I Know Spring Must Be Near

I'm not a birder and have difficulty identifying even the most obvious of birds, thankfully we have lots of blue birds and cardinals and that makes it a bit easier.  But I can enjoy the birds without knowing  precisely who they are, and frequently my husband helps me to identify them.  And as the days grow incrementally longer the sound of bird song begins to fill the air here in Coastal Georgia.

Right now the Starlings are visiting, they never

stay past Spring, but right now they're filling our trees with their song and their chatter.  I read recently that they are one of the most successful bird introductions in this country.  They were brought from England

 in 1890-91 and released into  Central Park in New York City as part of a project to bring 

in all the birds mentioned in William Shakespeare's writing.  I always enjoy the Starlings, flying in good-sized flocks and  swirling about the sky in massed formations.

Usually by this time we have a pair of Canadian Geese who come in to nest on the island in the lagoon in our b

ackyard, but there's been no sign of them this year and I will miss

 them.  They always came to be fed and when the goslings hatched they brought  them over for our inspection.  Perhaps they wintered over in Florida instead.

We do have 3 Mallards who come each year and they seem undeterred by the "cold" winter we've been having.  Though they'll eat what we throw them in the lagoon they flee to the water if we walk in the backyard to feed them.

White herons visit regularly to fish in the backyard, and Mac, while enjoying their beauty, is less than appreciative of them eating what he considers his fish. 

 A frequent visitor of our birdfeeder is this small redbellied woodpecker.  Why he's called bedbellied when its his throat that's red is beyond me.

The robins are all here, and they too are transients, staying a few weeks and traveling on.  But as they come just as Spring is coming

 I'm always glad to see them.

Our cardinals stay all year and are found everywhere in our neighborhood, hence the name

 of our subdivision, Redbird Creek. 

 Mac spotted his first bluebird yesterday,

 and of course all the LBJ's (little brown jobs) are here, as are the Carolina Chickadees.   We have a birdfeeder out for them, but the rascally

 squirrels get as much from it as the birds.

But if there is any better way to wake  up  than to birdsong I don't know

what it is, for it means Spring, though the thermometer may disagree, is on its way.