I walked outside and heard the unmistakable call of a Cassin's Kingbird this morning! Two were flying overhead. I saw two more in an oak tree. I ran in and shouted to my wife,
"Babe! What day is it today?"
"Saturday."
"Yes, but what day is it today?"
"I don't know."
"It's the day in 2011 that the Cassin's Kingbirds arrived! It's the first day of spring!"
"No, they've been here a couple of days."
"What? Why didn't you tell me?"
"I forgot."
"You forgot? How could you forget?"
After going back and forth like this for a couple of minutes, we established that their arrival (and the first day of spring) was Thursday, 4/28/2011.
I tried to get some pictures, but they were too far away. I'll go stealth tomorrow morning for a couple of hours when they're most active.
What is a Cassin Kingbird? And, where did they arrive from?
ReplyDeleteK.
See picture at http://birdattraction.blogspot.com/2011/04/cassins-kingbird-and-pagiarism.html. They're a member of the Tyrant family of flycatchers. They arrived from their winter home in Southern California or Mexico.
ReplyDeleteThese birds are important to me because their arrival and departure dates are huge milestones. When kingbirds are here, the NM climate is conducive to happiness, health and well-being. When they're not--well, let's just say I wait for them to come back.