EARLY SPRING (SAYS THE MOUSE),
PLUS PURPLE FINCH WONDERS--
AND A SOLITARY SISKIN

No sun? No shadow.

No shadow? Get out the shorts and flip-flops; spring is on the way!

That’s the forecast and advice from Hilton Pond Harry the White-footed Mouse, whose “Groundhog Day” prognostications are far more reliable—can you say 100% through the decades?—than those from Phil, that ancient, overstuffed Woodchuck (above left) in far-off Punxsutawney PA. We’re not fat-shaming him, but Phil is so coddled he has to LOSE a bunch of cellulite before going into hibernation each fall, while our svelte and handsome Harry is in top shape year-round from his nightly regimen of exercise and a grain-rich diet.

We fear corpulent Phil’s abundant cholesterol has clouded his vision, so much so that this year when he was (un)ceremoniously jerked from his air-conditioned burrow he THOUGHT he saw his shadow and predicted six more weeks of winter for 2023. (You don’t suppose all those TV lights had anything to do with shadow-casting, do you?)

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To the contrary, under overcast skies this morning, ever-honest Hilton Pond Harry made no shadow, so you can bet your mukluks winter is already on its way out in the Carolina Piedmont. That Whistlepig up north in Pennsylvania—bless his heart—is just plain wrong again, as happens more often than his top-hatted handlers are inclined to admit.

By comparison, Harry annually produces an incredibly accurate forecast that you would be wise to heed. Spring is just around the corner—even though you may experience some wet and gray and even frigid days in the near term. This is no time to be wrapping yourself up in blankets and snoozing for another month and a half when Hilton Pond Harry knows—as you now do from his prediction—that flowers will be blooming, birds will be chirping, and springtime sunshine is soon on the way no matter what you hear from Punxsutawney Phil.

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center

As a matter of fact, things are are ALREADY blooming at Hilton Pond Center. Red Maple flowers began to open a tad early in the treetops the end of last month while harmlessly invasive non-native Daffodils (above)--planted by whomever owned this property before we came in 1982--are already gracing our brown winter woods with glorious yellows.

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center

Along the pond margin long male catkins of Hazel Alder, Alnus serrulata (above), hang down from thin stems, with last year's now-seedless woody female cones still present. (Pollinated by wind, somewhat shorter female catkins occur on the same shrub.) Yes, Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter for 2023, but Hilton Pond Harry and this complement of early "spring" flora say otherwise. (NOTE: Break out the flip-flops and shorts!)

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center
Groundhog Ted Talk meme adapted from one found on the Web

10,000 PURPLE FINCHES AND A METHUSELAH BIRD

In addition to being Groundhog Day, 2 February was a remarkable Finch Day at Hilton Pond Center. During our last check of the afternoon we noticed a ground trap held two Purple Finches, one raspberry-colored and the other brown. As we extracted them we saw the latter was unbanded but the other--an adult male--carried an old, worn band on his left leg.

We carefully transferred both birds to a carrying cage and took them inside the Center's old farmhouse, where we prepared to band the brown bird. Plumage clues told us it was in its second year (i.e., hatched in 2022) but because it takes two years for male PUFI to get red coloration it could have been either a female or young male. Thus, we recorded its sex as "Unknown," hoping we might recapture it in a later year when adult feathers would tell us its gender.

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center

This winter we've caught dozens of 2nd-year unknown-sex PUFI, so nothing was really unusual about this particular bird--except when we entered it into our cumulative spreadsheet we discovered it was the 10,000th Purple Finch banded at Hilton Pond since 1982! Quite a milestone, we'd like to think.

This makes PUFI the third species to enter the Center's elite "10,000 Club." They join American Goldfinches (12,379 bandings) and House Finches (11,691). Next closest: Ruby-throated Hummingbirds with 7,190, followed by 4,621 Pine Siskins and 3,256 Northern Cardinals.

We could celebrate our 10,000th PUFI for only a moment, however, because when we checked the band number of the red Purple Finch we were astounded. Our records showed we banded this individual here on 4 March 2016 when he already had red adult plumage and was recorded as after-2nd-year; i.e., he had to have hatched no later than 2014, and possibly before. According to ageing protocols, that makes him an after-9th-year bird and the oldest of his species known at Hilton Pond! We were stunned by this encounter--yet another example of songbird longevity and the value of same-site long-term banding studies like ours at the Center.

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center

A further check of our data revealed we had never recaptured this ancient Purple Finch after his 2016 banding. Has he been coming south each year from his northerly breeding grounds but avoiding recapture, or has this winter's particularly harsh weather finally driven him south after an eight-year hiatus? We can't answer those questions, of course, but we do know this decade-old male is homing in on the Purple Finch longevity mark of 12 years 8 months. Here's hoping he returns to Hilton Pond for recapture in ensuing years and breaks the record!

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center

SISKINS: BOOM OR BUST

On 6 February we had been reading about Pine Siskins finally being seen in neighboring North Carolina when that afternoon one showed up in a trap here at Hilton Pond Center. This bird--a second-year male (see photo below)--is only our second PISI in two years--quite a change from the 1,316 banded locally in the winter of 2020-21.

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center

Incidentally, the solitary siskin last year didn’t appear until 11 April, quite tardy for our first encounter in a winter season. We have had lingering Pine Siskins as late as 5 May--an exceptional date since in some years cold-weather courtship begins on their Canadian breeding grounds in January. (NOTE: PISI arrived at the Center as early as 17 October; more usual is early December.)

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center

HILTON POND SUNSETS (AND MOONRISES)
(from our on-going series)

"Never trust a person too lazy to get up for sunrise
or too busy to watch the sunset." --BHjr

Moonrise from Hilton Pond, 05 February 2023

With Hilton Pond behind us, we looked east across the road and
the neighbor's field at a Moon that was actually full at 1:30 p.m.
but hidden by Earth's horizon. (More evidence against the
Flat Earth Conspiracy?) This is the Snow Moon--not that
we're expecting any white stuff here. Incidentally, "the
Arapaho tribe's name for February's full moon means
'frost sparkling in the sun.'"

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center

Sunset over Hilton Pond, 07 February 2023

We offer this evening image in honor of the 46th birthday
of our eldest son, Billy Hilton III.

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center

Don't forget to scroll down for lists of Hilton Pond supporters and of all birds banded and recaptured during the period.

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