the note of each bird

H.D. Thoreau wrote "Each new year is a surprise to us.  We find that we had virtually forgotten the note of each bird, and when we hear it again, it is remembered like a dream, reminding us of a previous state of existence.... The voice of nature is always encouraging."

Spring is finding its voice again, and it is indeed encouraging.  Each morning this week we have awoken to a strange sound in the darkness.  The faint warble of robins drift through the single pane of our window.  After four cold and forgotten months, the dawn chorus returns.  Cardinals, robins, starlings, sparrows, the passing black-capped chickadee, the occasional crow, and even the beautiful, shrill call of a red-winged blackbird have disrupted the monotony of winter.  They have ignited the atmosphere with song.

Birds are important to Dana and I.  I'm not sure either of us know why.  Perhaps it is their language.  Perhaps it is their mastery of the unattainable.  Perhaps it is their way to ground us in the moment.  Perhaps we will never know and maybe that is the point.  Either way, as Dana and I transition through what seems to be an incredibly important and life-changing year, the voice of nature is always encouraging.

An American Goldfinch.

A kettle of hawks riding thermals over the Mississippi River.

An immature seagull cruising on surface winds over the Atlantic Ocean.