March 1: As the following posts may attest, the last few months have seemed to be an endless snow-globe parade of arctic cold and repeated blizzards. It has sapped my energy and enthusiasm.
But this morning, as I went out the back door headed for a short run, I found this guy sitting in the top of the maple tree in our courtyard, singing his head off. I have an affection for Cardinals, partly because of their flamboyant plumage, but also because they don’t migrate but endure the cold of winter with us. His song is a harbinger and a reminder that warmer weather is just around the corner – the long ordeal of the winter months that he has endured is just about done.
If I still lived in the Lakeshore, I would now be listening for Red-Winged Blackbirds. Unlike Cardinals, they migrate and return to the Lake Ontario shoreline within days of my Mother’s Birthday on March 8. The first time I heard their distinctive conkeree call, I thought it was far too early for a “summer bird” to be back on territory. But it happened every year that I was there and I looked forward to the day I first heard their call as a milestone on the road back to the summer sun.
The Weather Network is forecasting another couple of weeks of polar vortices before a sudden return to warmer weather. Frequent reader(s) know that I will only officially declare Spring has sprung when the Saucer Magnolia is fully in bloom. That occurred last year on May 9, with a note that the previous year’s declaration had been on April 28. Whatever; hopefully my friend the Cardinal knows something I don’t, and the cold weather will soon be done. It’s about time.