The other morning I looked out the window on my trip downstairs to feed the Ravenous Beasts and saw a Robin perched on a snowy branch. I took a few steps and then came back to the window- a Robin! For birders- this is an "FOS"- first of season, and very welcome it is indeed. Later that day I saw it plucking the small (now no larger than 3/16",) shriveled apples from the Sargeant Crabapples and downing them. Every other year these two petite (8' tall, max.) trees bear large crops of 1/4" apples and I worry that they will go to waste. Like most worries, it is groundless- this is the time of year when the fruits will be stripped, after they have been bletted and sweetened by the cold of the long winter.
This morning I heard another FOS- the doleful song of the Mourning Dove. But it was music to my ears. These lovely creatures have been silently surviving the winter but now the blood is rising to greet the spring. I have also noticed Purple Finches and House Sparrows checking out the many birdhouses, flitting from house to house- sometimes being driven off by the new occupants.
We have survived February, and dare we whisper it........(spring is coming...spring is coming...)
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