Good morning everyone! It’s a beautiful spring morning, the sun is shining, the birds are chirping, it feels so nice and fresh out there. But something is missing. Spring birds. There is 2 juncos that have been here for days now, and of course the gulls and crows. The only other spring birds I have seen so far are the Canada geese. I mean, there should be a lot of different spring birds around now. Ducks, robins, grackles, flickers, herons, loons and several different sparrows are some of the birds that should be out here. Plus a lot more juncos. Although it’s possible the juncos moved through quickly this spring since the snow was basically gone when they showed up last weekend. There was a lot that first day. That only explains the lack of juncos, not the other birds.

Yesterday was supposed to be sunny, but it was cloudy instead, and not as warm either as what the forecast had shown. Oh well. I went for a walk to the river anyway. It was very windy so it was hard to hear anything. I did hear a chickadee once and at the river there were crows, gulls and geese. But walking through the pines was fabulous. If you have never heard the wind through the pines then you are missing something beautiful. It’s a different sound entirely than wind through other varieties of trees. Even spruce and balsam, though evergreens like pines, don’t make the same sound.

Only pines have this distinctive sound to them. Like a thousand stringed instruments playing a beautiful symphony. Each size of pine, each variety, playing their own slightly different version but all blending in to produce such an amazing melody. A wonderfully arranged orchestra, each musician perfectly positioned knowing just when to jump in and play rising to a dramatic high, then falling so that they are barely heard as another section begins their part. Nice to just stand there and listen to all of this. Down at the river I sat on the bench looking out over the water. Something was missing, actually a couple of things were missing. One was the birds, or lack of birds would be more appropriate to say. And the lack of sunshine.

Cloudy days can have their own beauty, but on this day it made everything look dark and dull at the river. No leaves on the trees, the water was dark and dull looking. It was missing the sunshine which makes everything look so vibrant. Right then it looked rather barren. Just as I was about to leave the crows showed up making a lot of noise. Then gulls came by briefly. Then two Canada geese showed up, so I got some pictures of them. Otherwise I didn’t take any pics. On these dark cloudy days I find that pictures lose their color, everything takes on a rather gray tone, which can look nice too, but I have enough cloudy day pics. I prefer sunny days for pics, looks so much nicer, brighter and more cheerful. But it depends on the subject too, clouds can be good for certain pictures. But not for what I wanted.

That’s okay though, I enjoyed that symphony so much that not getting many pictures didn’t matter. But…I did find out that bears are awake and roaming around down along that path. Right now it’s easy to see a long distance through the trees, which is especially good on a windy day. It’s not easy hearing things on a windy day. And with bears around I like to hear things too, it can be very helpful. But it was a very enjoyable walk, though it was colder than I was expecting as well. Another good reason for sunshine this time of year. And dressing warmer. This is longer than normal, but it is something different for today. It’s a beautiful sunny spring morning. And right now there is not a bird that I can see anywhere. Maybe tomorrow? I hope you all have a wonderful day and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.

©2021 Steve McLeod.