March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. If only it were that simple.

This March, like many before it, seems to be toggling between lion and lamb daily. One day last week, I was at the beach photographing oystercatchers and other shorebirds. The next day, I watched out my window as several inches of snow fell. As with any snowfall, I enjoyed watching my feeder birds. This day’s visitors included bluebirds, Carolina wrens, chickadees, titmice, nuthatches, juncos, woodpeckers, and other feeder birds.

Such is life in New England in March, and even early April, as outdoor enthusiasts are subjected to the whims of mother nature. Thankfully, there is birdwatching to be done regardless of the weather.

As I mentioned earlier, I spent a few hours last week at a Connecticut beach watching and photographing shorebirds along the edge of Long Island Sound. The stars of the show, of course, were the American oystercatchers. Oystercatchers have always been a favorite of mine, and seeing their carrot-like bills in March is an underrated, yet certain, sign of spring.

I knew there were oystercatchers at the beach long before I spotted them. Their high-pitched and loud piping notes greeted me as I crested the dune. I nearly missed out on actually seeing them as I had already turned around and headed back when I heard those piping notes again. I wheeled around and spotted two oystercatchers flying my way. Another beach visitor must have spooked them further down the coast and chased the birds my way. I stopped in my tracks and let the bird pick a safe spot to land. To my surprise and delight, they landed fairly close to me and started looking for food.

Oystercatchers are relatively large shorebirds with red and yellow eyes and substantial red-orange bills used for prying open shellfish such as oysters and clams. Their specialized diet keeps oystercatchers close to the shore and you are unlikely to see one inland.

I was also enjoying the large, mixed flock of sanderlings and least sandpipers. They are about the same size, but the sanderling’s nonbreeding plumage is much brighter.

The day at the shore got me thinking that the beach is an underutilized resource for finding signs of spring. You’re not likely to see bulbs poking out of the sand or robins scampering along a grassy area looking for worms, but you will see the movement of birds that herald spring.

The term spring migration can be a bit of a misnomer, and the seasonal movement of shorebirds is a prime example. Many shorebirds head north early, and some even make their southward, or “fall,” migration early in the summer.

Regardless of what mood March decides it wants to be in on a certain day, the bird migration will stay true to its historical schedule. Many shorebirds have already arrived. So have other birds such as red-winged blackbirds and American woodcock. I am expecting to see my first eastern phoebe any day now. Soon, they will all be passing through or setting up homes in our region. It’s an exciting time to be a birdwatcher.

Eastern phoebes are singing their namesake song and flitting among the trees at work today. Their return is right on cue with the official start of spring.

Sharing some birding news from the area and beyond:

Several readers have responded to last week’s column about bluebirds. The spectacular and adored birds are becoming a common sighting in New Hampshire throughout the winter. Jim from Keene, who also made an appearance in last week’s column, wrote in this week to say he had eight bluebirds congregating around his birdhouse. The birds stayed for about 15 minutes. It was the same birdhouse that was used by bluebirds last year, so hopefully that is a good sign of things to come this spring.

I mentioned last week that eastern bluebirds were the only bluebirds that live in the East. That being said, a mountain bluebird has been seen at Great Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Newington, as reported on the birding news page of the American Birding Association’s website. As of this writing, the last sighting was reported on February 28. Visit aba.org/birding-news/ for updates.

Why would a mountain bluebird, a western species, show up on the East Coast? Birds often get lost due to a variety of factors, such as weather, and end up in places where they typically don’t make an appearance. In New England, I’ve seen a painted bunting, fork-tailed flycatcher, brown booby, and other species that are not typically seen here. The Steller’s sea eagle that has been seen off and on in Maine this winter is another example.

Speaking of eagles, the ABA’s birding news web page seems to be filled with bald eagle sightings. I loosely monitor each of the New England states, and birders in each state seem to be reporting bald eagle sightings. Our national symbol has made an incredible comeback and seeing them is always a thrill. It is also nesting season for bald eagles in New England, and many are sitting on eggs already.

Unfortunately, the pathogenic avian influenza H5N1, which is also responsible for soaring egg prices at the grocery store, is taking a toll on bald eagles in the U.S. Several sources, including the Audubon Society and Smithsonian Magazine, are reporting that the bird flu is killing off bald eagles, most notably in Georgia and Florida, and the birth success rate for bald eagles is dropping dramatically in those places.

H5N1 so far has impacted larger birds more than songbirds, but that is little consolation as the National Wildlife Disease Program (operated by the USDA) has detected the virus in about 150 bird species. Ducks, geese, gulls and terns are among those most impacted. Eagles often get the virus by hunting ducks that are infected.

On a brighter note, Mary Lou of Alstead wrote in to say that she has been recording her first red-winged blackbird sighting since 1992. This year, the first one showed up on Valentine’s Day (February 14), the earliest date since she has been keeping track. I had written a few weeks ago that red-winged blackbirds have been arriving particularly early this spring.

In another response to a previous column, Cynde from Jaffrey wrote in with a fun tip for offering water to birds in the winter. I had written that offering water in the winter is important, but heated birdbaths can be pricey and bubbler systems do not always keep the water from freezing. I also mentioned that I often take pots filled with warm water out to the birdbath and repeat several times if necessary.

Cynde suggests using a heated dog bowl with a few rocks in it to make the water more shallow for the birds. Dog bowls are much less expensive than heated birdbaths. Cynde wrote that several birds visit her “birdbath,” including crows and turkeys. She also had four bluebirds at the same time this winter.

Like many of my columns, it always comes back to bluebirds.

I did two bird talks in New Hampshire last weekend and loved meeting everyone and talking about birds for a while.

In both talks, many questions and comments were about bluebirds. Everybody loves bluebirds, and these talks only confirmed that is true. And why not? They are beautiful birds and many of them are hardy enough to stay with us all winter. 

I have found that New Englanders appreciate the birds that stick with us year-round. When I did an informal survey many years ago to determine New England’s favorite bird, the chickadee and cardinal were the top two species named. Both birds, of course, are with us spring, summer, fall and winter. 

If I were to redo the survey, I would not be surprised if the bluebird didn’t crack the top two. I’m not sure which bird it would displace, but bluebirds certainly have been getting a lot of love lately.

New Englanders love their common loons as well. While loons may flee New England’s lakes and ponds in late fall, many of them settle for the winter in the region on Long Island Sound or off the Atlantic coast. 

Everybody loves to see bluebirds in the spring at their nest boxes bringing insects and worms to the babies. It is also fun to see them in the summer and fall with their fledglings. But winter seems to be the season when many people get the biggest thrill over seeing bluebirds. It is particularly gratifying to see them while there is snow on the ground and branches. Their bright blue coloring contrasts spectacularly with a fresh coating of snow.

Jim, an attendee at one of the talks, said there is something extra special, even spiritual, about seeing bluebirds. I couldn’t agree with him more.

There are three types of bluebirds in the United States. The western and mountain bluebirds live out West. Eastern bluebirds, as the name would suggest, live in the East. 

What was a little surprising to me is that eastern bluebirds nest throughout the entire East, northward into Canada and southward into Florida and even parts of Central America. For whatever reason, I tended to believe that they were a more northern bird until I saw one nesting in a tree hollow near my brother’s house in southern Florida.

Bluebirds are a prime example of how conservation efforts can work. They were declining significantly as a species due to a loss of nesting sites caused by habitat destruction and competition with introduced species such as starlings and house sparrows.

Thankfully, the decline was noticed (always the first step in solving a problem) and bluebird boxes became a critical conservation tool. The boxes were, and still are, built to exact specifications for the bluebird, right down to the size of the hole. They aren’t foolproof as other species sometimes get to the box first, but there’s no doubt the bluebird box program greatly helped the species.

Many people are surprised when they see bluebirds in the winter and wonder if it is an anomaly. Bluebirds do indeed regularly spend their winters in New England. Well, some of them anyway. Similar to American robins, their cousins in the thrush family, some eastern bluebirds migrate and some don’t. Of those that do migrate, some go a fair distance south and some go only a short distance. Many of the bluebirds we see in winter could be birds that nest farther north and come down here for the winter.

Like many New Englanders, I appreciate the ones that remain with us throughout the winter. New England winters can be long, cold and rather bland. A good bluebird sighting never fails to brighten things up.

Note: This was written for my New Hampshire audience, but the Great Backyard Bird Count applies to all.

I have received a few emails from folks who have seen evening grosbeaks this winter. There have not been many emails regarding pine siskins or purple finches, and not a single one about redpolls.

As had become typical, there have been plenty of emails about Carolina wrens and red-bellied woodpeckers.

The birds mentioned in the first paragraph as known as irruptive species in New England. Some years we see many of them, some years we see a few and some years we don’t see any. The birds in the second paragraph are species that are expanding their range northward and are now fairly common throughout the southern and middle parts of New England.

Anecdotal evidence plays a large role in monitoring bird populations, but a more scientific approach is even better. That is why there are citizen science projects such as the Christmas Bird Count, Great Backyard Bird Count and Project FeederWatch. These massive databases help scientists track bird populations and see which bird species are thriving and which are struggling.

The Great Backyard Bird Count will be held this year from February 17-20. The GBBC is now a global event with hundreds of thousands of birders participating every year. Researchers from National Audubon Society, Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Birds Canada use the checklists to learn about and protect birds. It is free, open to all and requires as much or as little time as one can spare.

While I would encourage everyone to participate in the GBBC, I would also urge New Hampshire residents to take part in the annual NH Audubon Backyard Winter Bird Survey, which takes place this year on February 11 and 12. NH Audubon is a conservation organization independent of the national Audubon Society.

Similar to the national bird surveys, the Backyard Winter Bird Survey helps biologists from the state get an annual snapshot of what birds are in New Hampshire during the winter. For instance, cardinals and titmice are common backyard feeder birds throughout most of New England these days. A relatively short time ago, however, these birds were considered southern birds and rarely seen this far north.

In fact, according to the NH Audubon website, the project was originally the “Cardinal-Tufted Titmouse Census” before being expanded to include more species in 1987. Cardinals and titmice are still fairly rare in northern New Hampshire, but their numbers are increasing there. Surveys like this help monitor those trends.

It is likely that the Carolina wren and red-bellied woodpecker will continue to expand northward and increase their population where they are already established. The Backyard Winter Bird Survey will play a major role in tracking those populations.

But it isn’t all about cardinals, titmice, Carolina wrens and red-bellied woodpeckers. Nor is it only about the irruptive species such as siskins, redpolls and grosbeaks. It’s about all the species you see in your backyard. It may not seem worthwhile to report every chickadee you see, but what if suddenly chickadees started to appear on fewer checklists and in smaller numbers. Biologists would get an early warning that perhaps something is amiss with the chickadee population.

For this survey, backyard birds go beyond the birdfeeder. Any bird flying overhead, swimming in a pond or lurking in the woods should be counted. In general, any bird you can see while standing in our house or on your property may be counted. Use separate forms if you have two properties and count birds from each.

Forms for the survey are available online and results may be submitted online. Find more information about the survey at nhbirdrecords.org/backyard-winter-bird-survey/ or by calling (603) 224-9909.

Get those results in, but also let me know if you see anything out of the ordinary.

It already seems as if 2022 is a mere dot in the rearview mirror. Before it fades even more, I want to present my annual “top birding moments of the year” column. It’s a tradition that goes back several years and is one of my favorite columns to write. I also encourage readers to send to me their favorite birding (or wildlife) moments of 2022.

10. Bears! On my drive home from looking at land in far north New Hampshire, I noticed three dark blobs at the far edge of a huge field. I hit the brakes, turned around and pulled over. The blobs were three bears — a mother and two cubs. Bears are becoming increasingly common throughout New England. I hope we learn to co-exist peacefully.