Nature Walk : The Winter Robins

For most of my life I assumed that here in New England, robins were the true harbingers of spring.  I thought they flew south in the fall and came back as the very first signs of a warmer season.  I didn't realize how wrong I was.  I guess some DO fly south, but many stay around all year as my dear mom, Master Gardener and Birder Extraordinaire recently informed me.  How strange that I didn't realize this until now.  Where have I been?

:source:

There was quite a racket outside my windows yesterday in the middle of the snow storm.  There were tons of robins in my trees, their beautiful red breasts fluffy and bright in the winter snow.  It was an amazing sight!

Googling "robins in winter" brought a lot of information and I was surprised to read that it is not unusual to see the robins in winter in large gatherings as I saw.  The photo above is just a small snippet of the number of robins that were hanging out in my trees at that moment.

They looked unusually fluffy and sweet to me.  If you want to read more about robins in winter, read here:  The Winter Robin