Bird Notes | Warmer weather could mean a three-brood season

Ah, spring...signs of its impending arrival are becoming more evident each day in our area.

Azaleas and other flowering plants are becoming covered with flower buds, and some already have fully opened blooms. On warmer, sunny days, a stray butterfly or two may be seen on the wing seeking nectar to sustain itself and a mate with which to fulfill its biological imperative to reproduce. A number of our area breeding birds are well into the swing of things. Several folks have reported observations of nesting behaviors, and a few folks report nesting bluebirds already incubating eggs. If all goes well for these early nest attempts, it may be possible for some pairs to raise three broods this season.

Area bald eagles are busy tending their rapidly growing eaglets. These youngsters will soon start leaving their nests and developing the skills required to survive on their own. Meanwhile, osprey are returning to reclaim customary nest sites in order to get underway with their own spring duties. Our three breeding species of owls, great horned, barred and Eastern screech are involved with their own spring obligations, and some great horned owls may already be tending owlets.

Along with the burgeoning nesting activity, many of our wintering birds continue their seasonal sojourns, and spring migrants are trickling into and through the area. White-throated, song, chipping, Savannah, swamp and dark-eyed junco sparrows remain while they ready themselves for their northward migratory treks. American goldfinches and a few pine siskins are visiting some backyard feeders, taking advantage of seed offerings in order to complete molting and increase body mass for their own impending northward journeys. Baltimore orioles and a few winter hummingbirds continue to avail themselves of area backyard feeding stations as their own departure times draw near.

Some uncommon winter visitors to the Carolinas continue their winter stays as well. A common merganser is still being observed in the company of red-breasted mergansers in the creeks at Pawleys Island. A burrowing owl continues to be observed at Masonboro Inlet at Wrightsville Beach, N.C., and a buff-bellied hummingbird continues its stay in Winston-Salem, N.C.

A reminder, the first of our breeding ruby-throated hummingbirds customarily start arriving in mid-March, so keep your feeders clean and maintained with a solution of one part sugar to four parts water with no other additives, and let me know when the first hummingbird of the season arrives in your yard.

This story was originally published March 8, 2016 at 10:19 AM with the headline "Bird Notes | Warmer weather could mean a three-brood season."