I saw two swallows today
 

That's right! :)

Does that mean it's spring?

Around here, seeing Robins usually means spring is close. I saw three of them a few days ago, but it's still colder than average and quite windy almost every day. I hope spring is about there for you in Portugal, rbarata. :)

Yes, spring is starting. Temps are now higher, especially the min. It has been raining a lot, it's the "normal" for this time of the year until the end of april, with temps getting higher as the time goes into may.

I know spring has started when I see three signs:

- Swallows (robins?) arrive
- My turtle wakes up from hybernation
- Phals start to bloom

When the juncos go home, I'll believe it's spring.😁

I think spring is on its way here. The birds have returned and my first round of spring bulbs (mostly crocus) are in bloom. The pussy willows are fuzzy. Still waiting on the peach and cherries to bloom (I will certainly miss the apple trees being in bloom--we had them cut down a few weeks ago).

What are juncos?

This little guy, they winter here from Canada.

In France we also use the arrival of the swallows as a sign of spring (though they are getting rarer due to lack of nesting sites- not many barns left for them where my family is).

Up here in the Netherlands, spring is when the spring bulbs start flowering! :) The daffodils and crocuses are out, but the tulips are going to be extremely late this year. Can't wait, I now work in the tulip fields area of the country.

Not sure what spring is for me :dumb:

Though since I am (just barely, latitude -7.7156) in the southern hemisphere I guess spring is around September-October or whenever it's fall for Americans.

Aren't your seasons just wet and dry over there, or is there a bit of other seasonal variation?

Yes, pretty much just wet and dry.
Wet is the equivalent of winter and temps drop a bit and dry season is the equivalent of summer and temps rise a bit.
BUUUT nights are a bir hotter in the wet season than in dry season.
I think.

The juncos are year round residents at our "bird food court". I know spring is just around the corner when I start seeing the ducks and Canada geese returning.

Yes, everyone is pairing up! We have crocus and the daffs are up a few inches. I forced magnolias inside this year, for a touch if spring. But our juncos are still here, call them to you Katrina, because it is very cold here.

I've had a couple of junco's in the last few days. I think they are so cute. We also have robins and I have been trying to figure out what to feed the poor things. They do eat the Russian olive's and I bit the bullet and bought meal worms. I'm not ever sure they are eating them and the things cost me an arm and leg.

It will be a while before we have tulips and such.

Well, robins are mainly bug eaters. One thing I do know is they love, love, love, fresh water. If you have a bird bath put it out! One Robin can bathe energetically enough to nearly drain a bird bath. The bluebirds eat our meal worms, it's worth it!

Nice colors they have.:)

They look soft and gentle, don't they?

Robins absolutely love berries and cherries. They come from all over the neighborhood to eat our fruit. The robins start on our strawberries, move on to the red currents, then get the cherries, next eat all the black and red raspberries and finish off with the blue berries...unless we cover the fruit with netting. The other birds that come to our yard tend to leave the fruit mostly alone and eat seed and insects. If you want to attract robins, just plant berries and cherries.

I agree, Leafmite. The image that made me say that was this: I was weeding a strip of flowerbed along our former house. A Robin was standing on the sidewalk waiting for me to toss him worms, which he gobbled up. However, they make short work of our numerous service berry tree's berries. (My, that was an akward sentence).

That's interesting about what Robins like to eat. I see lots of them around our yard, but they always seem to be looking for worms. We don't have any fruit or berry trees, so I guess they have to make do. Carol, that's a great story about the Robin waiting for you to throw worms to him/her. :)

We named him Alfred as he seemed rather rotund.

The year we had a pair of Baltimore Orioles (something I have not seen in my yard since), they nested in the cherry tree and the male chased away all the Robins from three of the cherry trees and the nearby blueberry bushes. It was a good year for cherries. :)

Leafmite I will only dream of having those kinds of trees. I have to be very careful of what I plant. We have heavy clay soil alkaline. I always tell people there's a reason trees don't grow here.

I do have a couple of apple trees but there not doing that well.

Our ground is all clay, too. That is actually perfect for fruit trees. I would not recommend planting the fruit trees, though, as they need a great deal of work and the sprays expose one to certain health risks. We actually have been cutting down fruit trees every year, just getting rid of the two apples and plum this spring. We now just have the two cherries and peach which, thankfully, don't need much pruning (though the peach tree is a diva otherwise). If you would like to grow fruit, there is much that has been developed to grow in pots...Top Hat blueberry, certain types of grapes and raspberries, strawberries, etc. I recommend the berries as they don't need to be sprayed with insecticides and fungicides.

My youngest daughter, home for spring break, says she will miss the apple blossoms this spring. I must agree. They always smelled so wonderful.

We had pairs of blue jays and cardinals in our yard this morning, along with many other types of birds. We have a good supply of nesting material. When the Artemisia absinthium leafs out, the birds will return to rip off leaves to line their nests (it is a pretty good insecticide but I wonder how the birds know this?).

My poor Robins are wondering what went wrong. We have snow once again.

I love to see Robins drinking water in lakes or rivers. They make low passes over the water while put their beak in the water.

Ok now I know it truly is spring because yesterday I saw a Meadowlark.

Wow! The neighbor has wood ducks...We have crows.

rbarata, just for clarification, what we call robins are a different bird than your swallows. This is an American Robin:

American Robin | Audubon Field Guide

We have different type of swallows here, too. This is the barn swallow. Note the coloration is somewhat similar to robins, but the swallow is a smaller, sleeker bird with a forked tail. These birds do a lot of swooping as they fly, as you describe in seeing them drinking water.

Barn Swallow | Audubon Guide to North American Birds

I've seen some robins here this spring that are so fat it's a wonder they can fly! I'd love to see some swallows around here. We used to have them when we had horses and would leave our barn doors open most of the time. They loved to nest in the rafters.

Mostly what I'm seeing lately are cardinals. Cardinals everywhere! I love them. Such pretty red birds.

The swallows made a nest in one of our bluebird houses years ago. Barn swallows, I think. Anyway, when I mowed the grass they would nearly dive bomb the mower. I realized they were really swooping up bugs thrown up by the mowing.

Thanks for the clarification, M370.

Here we have 5 species of swallows:

Barn_swallow (Hirundo rustica)

Common house martin (Delichon urbicum) - Not in the US

Red-rumped swallow (Cecropis daurica) - Not in the US

bank swallow (Riparia riparia)

crag martin (Ptyonoprogne rupestris) - Not in the US

There's a good article about them with a lot of info but, unfortunately, it's written in my language and it's too extensive to translate.

Ok I'm getting tired of this. More snow and it's 6 F this morning. At least the sun is starting to shine.

We don't have the snow, Shannon but, it is mighty cold for April, its 42 and dreary. Too cold to work outside, and antsy to get out there.

It has been alternating between raining and pouring and there are little lakes and streams in our yard and the yards of our neighbors. It is far too muddy to do any trimming and to clean up the butterfly garden.

The crocuses have been giving us a show for the past month and now the first daffodils are about to emerge.

The only plus is that this cool weather makes the daffodil blooms last longer, unlike a hot blast, which withers them before their time. But, otherwise...

If we get a frost or snow, though, that is the end of them. Hopefully it will warm up in time for the tulips and hyacinths.

We have a few juncos that stay here year round... they're almost a bluish color once spring commences. The others must head back to Canada. Who knew?

We have robins that came about a week ago. Now there's two inches of sleet/snow melting. I have a place set up for bluebirds and early robins. I peel an apple and put slices out for the robins, and also raisins. Robins like fruit and berries when worms are under ice/frozen.

You might check in your feed store in the chicken feed section. Freeze dried mealyworms are about 1/4 the price of what they are when in a bird food section. At least that's how it is here.

---------- Post added at 10:44 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:42 AM ----------

PS Here, crocus have already bloomed, daffodils in full splendor (under the snow/ice now), and the Lenten roses are in full splendor. My poor lotus and foxtail lilies are covered with straw, and straw is blowing all over the place.:roll:

The nearest feed store is a 'fur piece away. We get them at Lowe's. But I'll check the elevator.

DollyTH... Is there no Tractor Supply near you? That's where I get them cheapest. Depending on what you're paying, if buying in bulk even with shipping it's likely cheaper. Just a thought.