Songbird Prairie Bed and Breakfast

Saw a robin in a tree this morning eating some berries but may not necessarily be a sign of spring.

 Much like Punxsutawney Phil and his fellow groundhogs, sightings of the American robin are considered by many to be a sign that spring either is here or soon will be.

Or is it?

Recently, a couple friends and I heard and spotted several of the orange-and-black feathered friends - the state bird of Wisconsin, Michigan and Connecticut - on the west side of Ashland. During a newsroom discussion of the sighting, fellow Daily Press reporter Rick Olivo said he, too, saw several robins during a trip to Madison last month. The environmental reporter in me immediately wondered whether evidence of global climate change could now be seen outside my window: "I shouldn't be seeing these birds for at least two or three more weeks," I thought.

As it turns out, some of the birds choose not to live up to the second half of their species name, Turdus migratorius. Instead, they opted to stick around northern Wisconsin and tough out the winter like the rest of us - with the exception of the so-called human "snow birds," of course. read full article on By CHAD DALLY, The Daily Press, Ashland
ASHLAND (AP) -  blog.songbirdprairie.com