Two Day Roller Coaster Ride of Spring

Male Cardinal

Friday morning I woke up to a thin layer of ice covering many surfaces. Freezing rain continued to drizzle throughout the morning and small icicles formed on the bird feeder. The porch surface was slick as I went out to fill the feeder with seeds. Soon after, a variety of birds started appearing and the five cups of seeds disappeared remarkably fast. There was some bickering, a few fights, a bunch of shoving seeds over the edge, but the picky eaters all seemed to find some seeds to their liking.

Carolina Chickadee

Chickadees:
- Have fabulous memories. They can hide thousands of food items in different locations and are able to return later and remember where nearly all of them are.
- They are cavity nesters. They  use old woodpecker holes or excavate their own cavities in rotted or soft wood.
- Various calls of the Carolina Chickadee

Female Cardinal

Cardinals:
- Are fiercely defensive of their nests, and are even known to spend hours fighting their own reflection in the belief that they are fighting off an intruder.
- During the courtship process, male Cardinals are known to exhibit affection toward females by feeding her beak-to-beak.
- Various calls of the Cardinal.

Purple finch

Purple Finch:
- Is a bird of the northern coniferous forests that visits Tennessee only in the winter.
- The Purple Finch uses its big beak and tongue to crush seeds and extract the nut. They do a similar trick to get at nectar without eating an entire flower, and also to get to a seed buried inside a fleshy fruit.
- Various calls of the Purple Finch.
 

Our peach tree

Then on Saturday the weather warmed up to the 50s. Our peach tree seems to have forgotten to read the memo that winter is not quite over and has started blooming and producing tiny leaves. Since the weather was a bit warmer, I spent time exploring along the creek and noticed tender green shoots pushing up through the dead leaves on the forest floor. Little by little spring is creeping into the land.


 

In the evening I stood near the creek and listened to the forest get ready for bed. The cool night air settled down and enveloped me, and I watched as the vapor from my breath danced and swirled on the evening breeze. A great blue heron flew silently by. Dry leaves rustled with a passing puff of air and Mourning doves sang their bedtime lullabies. Chickadees twittered quietly as they settled down for the night. As it grew dark, two Canadian geese glided in towards the pond. I think this is the first time I have seen them back. Though it was peaceful to listen and watch as night crept in and pushed the last rays of sun over the horizon, it also got increasingly cold. So, reluctantly, I turned towards the softly glowing windows of the house and went in to get some hot chocolate.