BEAUFORT (WACH, AP) -- Both Punxsutawney Phil in Pennsylvania and Gen. Beauregard Lee in Georgia are predicting an early spring Wednesday, but Chattanooga Chuck saw his shadow predicting six more weeks of winter.
In South Carolina, a bird beat them all with the forecast. The Beaufort Gazette reports the first painted bunting was sighted on Hilton Head Island on Sunday.
The bird is considered a harbinger of spring on the lower South Carolina coast. It was seen by 80-year-old Joyce Geiger of Hilton Head. The bird has a royal-blue head, bright-red breast and lime-green back.
The birds winter in Florida and Central America and sometimes spend their summers along the South Carolina coast. Seeing one in early February is considered a sign of an early spring.
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(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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