The rose-breasted grosbeaks dropped in at Seasons, our retreat in the Taconic Hills on the New York-Connecticut line, on Sunday morning May 4th, right on schedule. They arrived just ahead of an overdue front of warm spring weather that kicked daytime temperatures from the cold 40’s into the sunny 70’s. Like magic, four ravenous males and a single female suddenly appeared at our feeders. Their migration from wintering to breeding areas had begun in Central America or perhaps Colombia or Ecuador with a stopover in the South. Rose-breasted grosbeaks are birds of deciduous forests east of the Great Plains, and this greening area could have been their final destination. We always have a nesting pair in our postage-stamp woodlot. On the other hand, our feeding station--offering sunflower seeds, shelled peanuts and nutty suet blocks—might have been a familiar place for the squadron to refuel before a final hop into New England or southern Quebec. History doesn’t credit the...