If we drink salt water we get thirstier. But not birds. Some birds — albatrosses, shearwaters, penguins, gulls and pelicans — can drink salt water!

There are several species that everyone enjoys seeing in the spring as it signals better weather is coming.

Our spring equinox, the start of the astronomical spring, comes on March 20 at 5:01 a.m. (I have not researched how they come up with the exact to the minute 5:01 time).

Many people are still feeding birds since influential organizations believe that it is safe to feed birds as the bird flu does not commonly infect songbirds.

In a much appreciated sign of the coming spring, red-winged blackbirds have returned. Randy Rynd was the first to report singing red-wings near her Oak Bluffs home on Feb. 22, and since then there have been more arrivals.

Spring gets closer as each day passes, and yet it seems strange to be writing about spring after we received four or five inches of snow. But signs of spring are becoming more frequent.

The southbound migration is becoming more intense.

It is easy to get caught up with the exciting influx of new species, but remember that these migrants start nesting shortly after they arrive.

A few tree swallows spent the winter here, but this week’s sightings are not in the same locations.

It is not often that the same species repeats at the top of this column but once again American oystercatchers are in the news as the Martha’s Vineyard Bird Club’s field trip on March 9.