Spring seems to be coming slowly.  Nonetheless we’ve seen changes in the bird population since February.

Just over a month ago — February 9 to 13 — birders typically saw 7,000 ring-billed gulls assemble on the river every evening at the Head of the Ohio in Pittsburgh.  By February 20 that number had dropped to only three.  Yes, there are still ring-billed gulls in the area but the bulk of them are gone.

Meanwhile, common grackles (Quiscalus quiscula) were very uncommon over the winter but individual birds showed up in the last week of February.  I saw my first common grackle in Schenley Park on March 1 and more than 40 yesterday at Moraine State Park.

Common grackles have just begun to arrive and will stay to breed.  Additional ring-billed gulls will pass through Pittsburgh on their way north but they’ll keep going.

Grackles come, Gulls go in early spring.

(photo credits: grackle from Wikimedia Commons; click on the image to see the original. Ring-billed gulls by Shawn Collins)

p.s.  I noticed the ring-billed gull population change by looking outside my window.  Twice in February I watched for 20 minutes at 5pm while I waited on hold on the phone.  On February 9 I saw thousands of gulls fly over my house on their way to the Head of the Ohio.  On February 22 the number was about 10.   Interestingly, I now associate the music-on-hold with flying gulls.