A first for the year! Bob Shriber found a Lapland longspur on Norton Point beach on March 1.

It is a bit early in the year for shorebirds to show up on their northward migration. It is still February, after all.

We are all looking and listening for signs of the approaching spring, as some of us cannot wait for it to come even though we have not experienced much severe winter weather so far.

So why was there a great egret in a salt marsh at Tom’s Neck on Chappaquiddick on Feb. 9? I

An American bittern is an incredible species.

Birds are starting to sing again, though the dawn chorus is still mostly quiet.