Good morning everyone! Well, it still does not look, or feel, like spring yet, but I have decided to continue with the change in title I had begun 3 weeks ago. Spring will be very short this year and basically it likely will not arrive as it normally does for us. We will go right from winter into summer. That is the official forecast for us, with the change taking place around mid May.

So, the first two weeks of May will be our spring. Soon our spring migration of birds will suddenly burst upon us and also be very brief this year. Normally birds travelling through the area will stay here about 2 weeks before moving on. But in a late year like this, which we get sometimes and more frequently in the past 20 years, the birds might only stay 2 or 3 days before they must move on to breeding areas in the far north. So it gives much less time to photograph birds that just travel through.

Last year was nice, it gave me lots of time to photograph certain birds and I was able to get some great photos. But some birds still eluded me and I hope to get them this year. One that I am particularly after is the rose-breasted grosbeak. I have some pictures of the female, but none of the male, even though the males are around. But they are not as brave as the females it seems. Oh well.

Today I am dreaming of spring solitude along the river. It is such a beautiful, peaceful location. So nice and quiet. A place to totally relax. Where problems, stress, anxiety and anything else can just float away down the river. A place where it is calm. A place where you can lie down on a thick mat of pine needles and enjoy the spring sunshine warming your entire body.

A place where you can sit and listen…to silence. Yes, silence has a sound. And it is beautiful when out in nature. But it is also a place where one can listen to the beauty of the forest. A place where the music comes from the singing of birds. And the “singing” of frogs. A place where you can hear the call of the loon, a true wilderness experience. It is a call that can be both lonely and comforting at the same time. The beauty of solitude. I hope you all have a most wonderful weekend and God bless!

Steve and Muffin. (Praying for the people of Ukraine)

©2022 Steve McLeod.