Earliest ever

[FUDGEY]

that I heard a Blackbird singing its Spring mating call yesterday. The Snowdrops and Daffodils are out here too. Must be one of the earliest on record for Scotland. Whats the situation in your region?

[Wild-Woman]

Pretty much the same here. Everything's happening early!

[RoyW]

Originally Posted by FUDGEY

that I heard a Blackbird singing its Spring mating call yesterday.

I hear Blackbirds singing occasionally throughout the winter, and the same is true of many other species (Song Thrush and Mistle Thrush are both regularly singing by this time of year) - late December onwards is when many resident species begin to establish territories.

I can't really comment on the flowers, I know I occasionally see them in winter but I can't be specific about the dates (it may normally be later).

[Acipiter]

Snow drops and Daffs here too, as well as buds on the beech trees.

[Dogghound]

Ive not heard any yet, but as Roy suggests thrushs regularly sing through the winter, with variability between individuals possibly linked to sexual condition and teritory pressures. This time of year is getting towards the start of breeding territory establishment. Late winter often sees a noticable increase of singing in blackbirds. This is often influenced by the weather and temperature, so quite mild conditions like this year will most likely (unless things change) see an early breeding season. This kind of territory establishment has been recorded as early as late November in very mild winters, with records often in December, so January does not seem to early. You would expect it to startaround February/early March in an average winter.

[monkeyrepublic]

My one blackbird is singing his heart out from the middle of the night this last week. No daffs yet, but the campanula in my garden never stopped flowering and my strawberries have flowered and even fruited since Nov.

[AfternoonLemon]

It is exceptionally mild, the sort of weather you'd expect in March really. And when compared to last winter, it's such a difference! Mind you, it's not even mid-January yet, so there's a good 6-8 weeks of winter left, and the weather can turn very rapidly...

I haven't heard any blackbirds singing yet, they are fairly vocal when moving around, but no proper singing.

[rossy]

yes blackbirds, robins , singing here and heard the mistle thrush last week, but they have forecast a cold snap this weekend, so i think its a little premature as we are only in january,and february is notorious for bad weather rossy.