A Full House

My feeders are normally pretty busy, but it's not every day I get a a Carolina wren, a female northern cardinal and a female purple finch in the feeder at the same time. The photo was taken a few days ago. Yesterday, it rained most of the afternoon, and even though the temperature is below freezing again, I'm starting to think that mud season is beginning.

Last night, I sat outside after dark, surrounded by dense fog. I heard the sound of Canada geese overhead, but I'm not certain these were migrants. For one thing, it wasn't a huge flock. The geese called and called, for minutes on end, using their "migration voice," but for some time the sound didn't seem to be going anywhere. By that I mean that I couldn't tell for sure if the birds were moving south to north or north to south or just what they were doing. I suspect the geese were circling, and I wondered if the flock became disoriented or separated in the fog.

The morning chorus of residents is underway again. This morning I heard bluebirds, the cardinals, the white-throated sparrow, the juncos and the Carolina wren. The birds certainly feel that there's something to sing about again, so spring must be on the way.