Walking along Lincoln Street earlier today, I heard a familiar song – the first I’ve heard this year. Something about it caught my attention enough that I stopped to try and record it. Unfortunately, it stopped singing so much, but I did get a bit of it between cars. I’m offering it here for a nice spring quiz (with a bit of a twist, perhaps). I’m curious to see what others think, so feel free to leave a comment.
Ruby-crowned Kinglet. The official harbinger of spring. They have not reached Gustavus yet. Maybe tomorrow.
How lovely to hear a Ruby-crowned Kinglet this early.
Thanks for the replies – a Ruby-crowned Kinglet is what it sounds like, and it’s what I thought at first also. I was feeling excited to report my first one this season (it’s a fairly typical time for them to show up here in Sitka), but as I kept listening, something seemed not quite right (which is what prompted me to record). I eventually decided it probably was not a kinglet, but I’m honestly not sure if there’s enough to the recording to be sure one way or another (and I did not actually see the bird, as it was in a fairly dense spruce).
Maybe he was a young male trying to get his song figured out for the first time 🙂
Since it’s been a week, I thought I would leave a comment with what I think it actually is. As I said, I was pretty sure at first that it was a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and I was excited to report the first of season for Sitka, but as I listened longer, it didn’t seem quite right. Finally some starling-like notes got into the mix, and that’s when I realized (or concluded) that what I was hearing was actually a starling doing a pretty good imitation of a Ruby-crowned Kinglet song. It was actually kind of impressive, especially since I don’t think it would have been able to hear one since last year.