Robins are thought to be harbingers of Spring, but really they’re not. Robins will often winter in northern states like Pennsylvania. I’ve seen them eating seeds.
But grackles arrive in late March or early April.
I was at a restaurant in the middle of Winston-Salem, NC, during the day on New Year’s Eve, and there was a commotion on one side of the dining area, people pulling their cell phone cameras out, all atwitter.
I went over to see what the deal was, and there was a large hawk just sitting there on the patio wall, looking back in at the diners taking pictures. By large, I mean eagle-sized, wouldn’t want to tangle with it one on one.
People started streaming outside to take a closer look. It just sat there. I started to wonder if it was injured, and then a crow called from atop a street light pole. Then came a flock of crows, and they started dive-bombing the hawk right in front of us.
It was quite the sight. I’ve seen crows and even smaller birds ganging up and chasing off a bird of prey while airborn before, but never up close and personal like that. The hawk flew a short distance to the roof of another building nearby, the crows wheeled above, cawwed and dived for about fifteen minutes. Then, the hawk launched off the rooftop and swept slow and low up the street, gone out of sight. The crows flew away, sounding sort of triumphant.