The Birds Return

You may have heard about the annual migration of swallows that return yearly to a mission in San Juan Capistrano, California. For me in Minnesota, the birds returning are the true harbingers of Spring. We don't have a parade and a big celebration, as Californians do for the swallows. We quietly smile with the wonder that they have all found they way back to where they began their journey the previous fall. We have many birds that don't leave for the winter: juncos, chickadees, cardinals, several woodpecker species, eagles, nuthatches, crows, owls and blue jays.

There is a small grove on the property and it is full of birds in the spring and summer months, but the birds that stay retreat to the woods and forests around us during the cold, snowy months of winter. While the birds that remain all have voices and talk, it seems to me that only the cardinal tends to "sing" in the wintertime. The others communicate with chitters, chatters, squawks, screams and warnings. They seem too busy with the business of survival to make pleasantries.

Spring brings wonder and delight as our birds return. I've not really given myself the freedom to pay attention to spring and the birds returns before, I just took it for granted. This year, around the 15th of March I heard geese honking one evening as I was letting Skye out for her final perambulations. Several days later they were followed by killdeers. The goats were startled out of their complacency a few days after that by a large flock of blackbirds that gathered in the forest with a cachophany of sound. We are a stop on their migrations, both north and south.

Ducks have returned and can be heard as they fly over the river. The robins are back scolding the cats in the yard having survived one snow storm; and yesterday I was blessed to see two beautiful turkey vultures soaring on the thermals over the woods and meadow to the east. I believe they are youngsters as their heads do not yet have the bright red color of an adult. It will only be a matter of time before the wrens and song sparrows are back for the season. The cardinals will be serenading us daily as the trees gain more leaves and they can safely hide in the leafy greenness and their bright red feathers will not give them away to predators.

So if you get a chance, take a walk outside. Don't have time for a walk? Allow yourself ten minutes, find a place to sit outside and let the sounds of spring wash over you in it's natural song. Even if you can't see them, the birds will let you know they have returned and soon winter, snow and the cold will be a distant memory. I promise.