As we patiently await the “real” arrival of spring — you know, with blooming flowers and colorful migrating songbirds — I’m happy to report that I’ve seen a few happenings in the bird world that have reassured me that the season will change soon enough.
While keeping up with traffic northbound on I-95 in southern Connecticut, I glanced over at a pond in and noticed my first great egret of the year. During the summer, egrets and herons will become our most reliable sightings, but it’s always nice to see the year’s first white wader. (Some great blue herons stay with us throughout the winter, so I’ve seen plenty of them over the past few months.)
I’ve also seen wood ducks at several locations, including a pair checking out a wood duck box — a sure sign that they are getting ready for the breeding season.
The most uplifting sighting I’ve had so far occurred only moments before I saw the wood ducks. I checked out a field at a nature center with the expectation of seeing a bluebird or swallow at one of the small birdhouses. Instead, I saw an eastern phoebe perched on top of a birdhouse. Its tail bobbing as a phoebe’s always does, the small brown and white bird surveyed the area carefully.
To be honest, I was glad it was a nondescript phoebe instead of a brightly colored bluebird. Why? Well, I’ve seen bluebirds already this year and this was the first phoebe of the spring. Just like the aforementioned great egret, it’s always exciting to see the first individual of a species each year. At this time of year, “firsts” come almost daily.
It’s not likely the phoebe will actually nest in one of the boxes. Their nests are usually built of mud and located under bridges or eaves. Two springs ago I had an eastern phoebe inspecting the area underneath my deck. I saw it sporadically under the deck for several days, but ultimately it decided not to build a nest there.
I was dive-bombed by a phoebe several years ago at another nature center. I climbed up a ladder to a blind overlooking a pond and disturbed a phoebe that had built its nest inside the blind. I kept my stay in the blind short — a few seconds instead of several minutes — to give the bird its space.
Seeing the phoebe on the birdhouse, whether it intends to use it or not, also served as a reminder to get the birdhouses out in the yard, if they aren’t up already. I keep my birdhouses up all year to offer shelter to our year-round birds on those cold, winter nights. Birdhouses should be cleaned out in late fall to prepare for winter and the next spring season.
The only activity I’ve seen so far at one of my birdhouses was a male house sparrow apparently just seeking a little shelter. The bird sat in the house with only its head sticking out of the hole for hours. At the risk of offending a house sparrow fan or two, I’m hoping the bird decides to build its nest elsewhere.
House sparrows, however, are one of the birds that would readily nest in a backyard birdhouse. Chickadees, nuthatches and woodpeckers are also cavity nesters, although they prefer natural cavities. House wrens, which will come later this spring, are also common birdhouse nesters.
In fact, house wren is the only type of bird I’ve seen nesting in my houses. That’s good and bad. It’s good because I get to see busy house wrens throughout the breeding season and summer. It’s not so good because house wrens are very aggressive and quick to chase away other birds.
Well, we have a few weeks before the house wrens arrive. In fact, we have a few more weeks — up to five or six weeks in a few cases — before a lot of our migrants return. In the meantime, keep your eyes open for your first “whatever” of the season. That’s always exciting. 

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