Spring fever

Question: Spring has sprung, the grass is riz, I wonder where the birdies is?

Answer: Many of them are in my backyard, much to my joy and delight.

Weeks ago, on my early morning walks, I heard cardinals sing as I sauntered down Sherbrooke street, especially around Anne’s house, in which I now sit tapping away on today’s prompt (i.e. “spring fever”).

When I walk (which is a lot), I often stop to search the treetops for the source of birdsong, and on some occasions manage to spot him (or her, I’m not well versed in the sexing of birds unless their marks are unmistakably different) as he or she sings the morning away.

The sweetest songs are sung by the cardinals: the kings and queens of Canadian songbirds. Oh how I wished Anne’s red-feathered friends would migrate 500 feet up the road to my place!

Cardinals are among my favourite avian songsters, hummingbirds top the list for all around super coolness (especially when in a full-on mid-summer hummer feeding frenzy), and these are 15 of my favourite funky bird photographs (just for fun).

Yesterday, my cardinal wish came true, though it wasn’t my birthday, and I hadn’t blown out any candles in one breath.

Truth be told, I don’t blow out candles, I have a special (and beautiful) candle-snuffing tool, which I use to extinguish their flames until the next time. I dine by candlelight three times a day, at breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Why should romance be wasted on one meal alone only when life is so short?

Cardinals romance with their song and yesterday one sat atop a dead tree just beyond the edge of the lawn, singing its heart out – perhaps in a feverish bid to find a mate. That’s what birds do as winter melts away. Humans on the other hand, have spring fever all year round.