Mood:
happyTopic: Songbirds Return
It's been a long winter. I just came back from a road trip with my dog to Wisconsin, where I grew up. I didn't go over Easter weekend because of bad weather. Last weekend was beautiful, however, and the songbirds were reminding everyone of that fact.
My brother lives in the country near Clinton, Wis., and his backyard acreage is a Bird Paradise, even more so than the one here on Jackson Run (in Ohio). They have feeding stations set up all over and attract a good variety of songbirds throughout the year. Springtime is especially delightful. My niece was ecstatic because a group of cedar waxwings had spent a few days there.
The goldfinches were bright bright yellow, and we watched red-bellied woodpeckers come to the feeder, as well as blue jays, cardinals and starlings ("junk birds" to some). Up near Madison, where my sister lives not far from wetlands, ducks and geese could be viewed, and I heard the call of a snipe on a few occasions.
Returning home yesterday, I had hoped the wood thrushes had returned by now, but so far I haven't heard one. The frogs were in chorus last night after a heavy rain, and at daybreak this morning I awoke to a flood of birdsong in my own backyard. Glorious!
Sadly I'm looking out the window as the cardinal helps himself to some sunflower seeds on my platform feeder. The chipping sparrow, a Carolina chickadee and a couple of mourning doves have joined him, while a rufous-sided towhee collects spilled seeds on the ground. I will miss my favorite Eastern songibrds in a couple of weeks, after I've left Ohio to return to the mountains in Colorado. We just don't have cardinals and blue jays in that part of the West.
I will miss the frogs and the fantastic bird sounds of the East, but I wanted to move more than I wanted to stay and hear the birds. I have a 10-month-old grandson who needs his Granny nearby. I'll soon be happy to see a western meadowlark again and a magpie and pinon jay. The West does have its perks as well.
But until that moment comes... I'm getting as much of the Eastern songbirds as I can. I think I'll get out for an early morning walk in my woods this week... one last chance to enjoy a special gift from the Creator... and Ranger can come along if he's quiet.
