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Spring is here!

Oconee bells are blooming, dogwood trees are flowering, tulip tree leaves are unfurling. If these are a sight for winter-sore eyes, the spring bird song is music for winter-weary ears. Bird migration has begun and all the signs are here. Songbirds are returning by the thousands on their journey from the tropical rainforests to the temperate rainforest of the Jocassee Gorges. Loons, gulls and grebes are in a feeding frenzy on the water. Feeding after migrating from the coast and feeding before they head back up north. Eagles and owls have nested, hummingbirds are buzzing by, and we have been a willing spectator of it all! Thursday night over 600,000 songbirds migrated over Oconee County, soon those numbers will top a million each night. Check out birdcast.org to see the traffic report from your county. And then take a walk and listen in your neighborhood to see who has shown up overnight. Happy Birding! ~Tricia Kyzer, JLT Naturalist Guide