On this cloudy, cool morning in Columbia, Missouri, I visited the Forum Nature Area in the Hinkson Creek Valley. There, despite the chilly air, birdsong was intense, triggered by the lengthening daylight of early spring.
The songs of northern cardinals, American robins, tufted titmice, white-throated sparrows, red-winged blackbirds and song sparrows were most evident, mingled with the calls of Canada geese, red-tailed hawks, blue jays, red-bellied woodpeckers and northern flickers. Less intense were the background chirps and tweets of chickadees, downy woodpeckers, eastern bluebirds and yellow-rumped warblers. In some areas, the rising calls of chorus frogs drowned out the birdsong.
I had expected to encounter eastern phoebes and tree swallows on my walk through this floodplain refuge, the first summer songbirds to arrive each spring. While they were not observed today, they will surely arrive within the next week or so, regardless of the weather that may greet them.
The songs of northern cardinals, American robins, tufted titmice, white-throated sparrows, red-winged blackbirds and song sparrows were most evident, mingled with the calls of Canada geese, red-tailed hawks, blue jays, red-bellied woodpeckers and northern flickers. Less intense were the background chirps and tweets of chickadees, downy woodpeckers, eastern bluebirds and yellow-rumped warblers. In some areas, the rising calls of chorus frogs drowned out the birdsong.
I had expected to encounter eastern phoebes and tree swallows on my walk through this floodplain refuge, the first summer songbirds to arrive each spring. While they were not observed today, they will surely arrive within the next week or so, regardless of the weather that may greet them.
