A robin surveys its surroundings at Portland's Payson Park on Tuesday. The snowpack in northern and western Maine may be temporarily blocking the migration of birds. Amateur bird-watchers and others alert to movement on the ground have noticed them. Instead of the usual two or three April robins bobbing around the lawn, dozens now gather in suburban yards. Some motorists in coastal areas report seeing hundreds or more in just a few miles.
Ornithologists offer hunches to explain the storm of robins, but have no definitive answers.
The lingering snowpack in northern and western Maine may have temporarily blocked the robins' migration, some ornithologists say, causing a kind of robin logjam in open fields and lawns near the coast. Others think we may be seeing the result of a robin population explosion, caused by an ample crop of wild berries and fruit last year. Many also note that robins aren't migrating as far south in winter as they used to, which could explain the fast return of large numbers this spring. The Birds store in Damariscotta. Herb Wilson, an ornithologist at Colby College in Waterville who studies bird migration, is among those who stress inland snow cover as a prime reason for the sightings.