Spring on the Blackbirds Wing

We’re experiencing a truly freaky warm-up right now, with highs in the upper-60s and low-70s, which is nearly 20- to 30-degrees above normal. It feels great, but what had me really excited this week was the prospect of some moderate south winds. These winds generally bring with them one of the first signs that spring is around the corner: red-wing blackbirds. These migratory birds are one of the first to arrive in spring from down south, where the males then set-up around marshy areas and establish a breeding territory. It was no surprise then that I saw a flock fly over the house this past Sunday- March 8th- and Monday- March 9th, I heard my first calling the traditional “chonk-la-ree” call. I let out an actual yell of excitement at that. My slight fears that we might be well behind this year were availed with those first calls.

Here’s the point I want to make. It’s been a very cold winter with a lot of snow for me. Yet, when I look at my logs, redwing blackbirds have shown up over the last five years (let’s not go further back than that) on: 3/9 (2021), 2/22 (2022), 3/3 (2023), 2/28 (2024), 2/26 (2025), and now 3/8 in 2026. While I will admit that the exceptionally, extremely cold ocean temperatures that we’re facing right now could be a factor in how things progress, there’s two warmer months coming and we just don’t know what will happen. If they’re normal, or above average, this cold winter might mean nothing in terms of how the striper migration unfolds, or when you should be in your spots looking for your first fish, or your first large fish. So while I’m seeing some chatter about how we must “prepare” ourselves for a late start, I urge you to keep paying attention to how things progress. Because so much of the natural world revolves around the cycles of the moon and the sun angles/length of daylight. These two things have nothing to do with temperature- and while I don’t know for sure, I think the arrival of the red-wing blackbirds is more tightly tied to those two things than most would ever think. Clearly, this snowy, cold winter didn’t slow them down at all.

This is why it pays to be connected to nature as we talked about in Season 3, Episode 5 and at various other times during the last few years of the Podcast. To pick up on the clues that will help you make decisions about where to go, and what might be happening in the surf, you have to be paying attention to the natural rhythms of the world around you. Especially if you don’t live within walking distance to the suds.

Photo Credit: The Cornell Ornithology Labs LINK