An eagerly anticipated arrival is that of the great crested flycatcher. Susan Shea is the first to spot one this year.

Completely unexpected is a sighting of a black-necked stilt on April 8. It is a vagrant on the Atlantic Coast.

The bird of the week is a prothonotary warbler, first spotted by Maria Thibodeau at Sheriff’s Meadow Sanctuary on April 8.

I wrote last week that the flood gates had opened, signaled by the arrival of multiple osprey, greater yellowlegs, piping plovers and double-crested cormorants.

Here they come! We have numerous documented osprey sightings.

No confirmed osprey sightings have been reported as of my writing this column.