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They’re back! The winter backyard birdwatching season, for me anyway, sta songbirds/wt_sparrow3.jpg

rts with the first white-throated sparrow sighting.
I noticed two smallish brown birds hopping in the garden and knew right away they were my white-throated sparrows. House sparrows, house finches and any other similar shaped and sized brown birds wouldn’t be hopping along the ground in the garden.
One of the sparrows eventually hopped onto a rock on the garden’s border and showed its telltale striped head. Winter may not have started yet, but the winter backyard birding season sure has. White-throated sparrows, along with their cohorts, dark-eyed juncos, will be with us throughout the winter and into spring.
Personally I’m glad to welcome them back, even if it does mean winter is breathing down our necks. I love the winter birdwatching season, therefore I love winter. (Actually you can replace the word “winter” with any other season in that last sentence as far as I’m concerned.) It would be difficult to tolerate winter in New England if you didn’t appreciate something about it.
I had another interesting sighting of a brown bird in my garden this week. Only this one wasn’t smallish, it was downright small — and it had a little stub of a tail. Yes, a winter wren was foraging among the fallen aster and coreopsis seeds. Winter wrens are a treat to see. Tney are northern bird that drops by to see us in southern New England during migration periods.
Like all wrens they are lively and tough to get a real solid look at because they are constantly moving about. Winter wren sightings aren’t a given either. In fact, a quick check of my birding journal informed me that it was only the second winter wren I had seen in the last five years.
Not a bad week in the garden considering the vast majority of the flower blooms are long gone.
The signs of winter birdwatching were not limited to the garden. A quick look at a nearby pond revealed that the American wigeon and gadwall are back. It’s always a highlight of my year to see the first migrating ducks in the fall. Soon hooded mergansers and ring-necked ducks will follow. Then I’ll really be in my glory.
As these new birds arrive, we are reminded that others are gone, having slipped out of southern New England like thieves in the night. Most of the waders — herons and egrets — have left for warmer climes. A few hardy waders are still around and even fewer will stay with us throughout the winter.
If the thought of winter depresses you and you’re bummed out that some of our summer birds have flown the coop, so to speak, don’t fret. Those birds will be back. Spring will also return in another six months or so. In the meantime, enjoy the birds that are here, preparing to stick out a long New England winter — just like you.

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