Ten Signs That It's Easter

Our first bluebird brood hatched yesterday.

1. A wood thrush sang from our north woods just after dawn this morning.
2. There were no kids' dress shoes at the shoe store.
3. I found a song sparrow nest with four eggs. It was cleverly located in the tall grass around our septic tank. No predator is going to find THAT nest by smell.
   
4. Entire creaking cartloads of Easter candy were being wheeled through the Wal-Mart parking lot.
5. Our neighbors across the valley are shooting skeet. This is an Easter tradition since we moved here 14 years ago. Later on, when I grow weary of the gunshots, I will play them some guitar with my amp set on 11.
   
6. Every patch of lawn is flush with dandelions, spring beauties, and a lush carpet of green.
7. The sound of lawnmowers fills the air. I find it's best to mow before the Easter egg hunt, rather than during or after. Last night I had a nightmare about weed-whacking.
   
8. Our first clutch of bluebird eggs has hatched. Little pink squirmies--very unlike the yellow marshmallow chicks that kids everywhere will be gagging down tomorrow morning.
   
9. I spied the first monarch of spring this morning.
10. Our kids are already buzzed out of their gourds on sugar. It's only gonna get worse.

Wishing you a joyous and peaceful holiday weekend. BOTB.

The Song in My Head

Today and tonight (and for the past several days) the song in my head has been

Gotta Have You
by The Weepies
from their new album "Say I Am You"

Ever since I heard this song on my fave local radio show, I've been aswim in it. It's sweet but not treacly sweet. It's melodic, but unexpectedly so. And I love the arrangement.

If you go to The Weepies site, you can hear a lot of their songs for free. My guess is, if you're like me, you'll hear it, then buy it.

The fave local radio show is called "Crossing Boundaries" and it's hosted nightly from 7 to 10 pm by Athens, Ohio musician Mark Hellenberg on WOUB-FM. This is the same studio where Zick records her NPR commentaries.

Three Voices of Spring

Lord of the noisy bramble, our alpha-male brown thrasher.

These early spring mornings the birds are singing, but the singers are not always in peak form. For example, our brown thrashers (two more arrived on Tuesday) are only just now playing their way into shape after several days of half-hearted effort. The bramble patches now ring with that special thrasher sound. Amazing what a little competition, a bit brighter daylight, and a shot of testosterone will do. Game ON!

We have a lot of eastern (rufous-sided) towhees here on the farm this spring, including one with a decidedly unmusical drink-your-tea call. This particular male towhee looks for all the world like a full-adult, so I'm not sure it's his youth that makes him sing this way. His song has more of a buzzy, metallic quality than our other, bright and musical towhee calls. Mr. Metallica's territory seems to be in the edge of the woods along our north boundary, behind the garage.

Ladies and gentlemen: Mr. Metallica the eastern towhee!

Our final notable performer this spring is a young red-winged blackbird who has the perfect song, conk-a-reeee! of an adult male, but still wears the streaky-brown plumage of a young bird. It's as if his suit is still at the dry cleaners, but he's showing up for work anyway.

Song? Check. Good singing perch? Check. Breeding plumage? Oh *%@#!

Cannot imagine what it would be like to wake up without a symphony bird song to greet the dawn. Let's not let that happen, OK?