Reflections on the Thirteenth Week of Winter

 

Sunlight cued birds that spring was arriving. Monday Spence spotted the first robin–actually first four robins. They searched for worms in snow-free garden patches. Later, bird calls alerted Spence to look overhead. A pair of bald eagles circled the field then settled in trees near the edge of the woods. He fetched me. With zoom lens on my Nikon, I stood by the garage, took some pictures, walked two steps, and took more. The eagle watched me approach. When I got to the bench between the field and garden, the eagle rocked back and forth on the branch. I quietly backed away. Saturday, the first full day of spring, birds started their morning chorus at 5:00. At 7:00, wearing fuzzy red slippers and a winter jacket over my nightgown, I stepped onto the porch. The cheerful spring celebration included robins, geese, crows, a phoebe, cardinals, chickadees, sparrows, two drumming woodpeckers, and Deer Creek gushing through the valley. A flock of robins sprinted across muddy grass, and mourning dove wings chittered as a dove flew. No eagles called. But I'd heard them mid week on the hill across the road. Hopefully, they'll nest nearby. [Listen to the eagle's peal call on Cornell Lab of Ornithology's website http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/bald_eagle/sounds]