Winter is nature's quiet season. Thunder is rare and the wind has few leaves to rustle. The raucous calls of crows, the shrill cries of blue jays and the honks of restless geese are among the few familiar sounds of winter. Sparrows chirp, chickadees and titmice offer a few notes, white-breasted nuthatches yank and Carolina wrens produce flurries of song but there is no steady choir to greet the day. The long, cold nights are gravely quiet, save the occasional hoot of an owl, the bark of a fox or the howl of a coyote.
Come mid February, things begin to change. Stirred by the lengthening daylight, neighborhood songbirds welcome the morning sun with a steadily growing chorus. Chickadees, titmice, white-throated sparrows, house finches and American robins provide the background melodies while male cardinals sing boldly from a perch in the sun. The Carolina wren has settled into a more regular and purposeful tune and even the blue jay has adopted a softer, musical voice. Within a few weeks, these songs of hope will be joined by the sad call of mourning doves and the hysterical chatter of flickers. The birds are assuring us that spring is on the way.
