FOS = "First of Spring"

FOS - I've been waiting and waiting and hoping and hoping that 'our' Eastern phoebe would come back to our farm again this year. Other birding friends throughout SE Michigan have already seen and heard one, so I was trying not to worry but just be patient.

This morning I woke up to a bluebird's 'cheery-cheery' right outside our bedroom window. I sat up to see if I could see it and instead what I saw was a grey and white bird on the tree branch just 3 feet away from our bedroom window, wagging its tail up and down, up and down, up and down. Woohoo!! Only one bird that could be - our Eastern phoebe had arrived. :)

The bluebird was momentarily forgotten with the excitement of the phoebe's arrival, and then even the phoebe was forgotten when my eyes saw a pair of wood ducks flying over the house, over the pond, and then into the woods behind our pond.

I was not even out of bed yet!! I think it is going to be a very good day. :)

Here are the links at www.allaboutbirds.com to look at and hear these birds:
Eastern bluebird
Eastern phoebe
Wood ducks

I have not heard (peent) or seen our woodcock again. I will get out again this evening to see what I can find or hear. The frogs are almost deafening - however, hearing them, so many and so many different kinds, is music to my ears. I woke up over and over and over again last night to listen to them, even though I can hear them all day, too.

Other people have seen a few early warblers, but I have not seen any on our farm yet. Killdeer are now calling and winging overhead, another sign of spring. Next up on my FOS list is listening for the Eastern towhee ('drink your tea'). However, I wonder what I'll notice before that arrival!

I hope spring is springing, even sprung!, where you are living and that you are having a great day seeing, hearing, feeling, touching, or smelling your own FOS. :)

Cultivate your life - you are what you grow - inch by inch, row by row,

Diana Dyer, MS, RD

PS - I think I forgot to say, just in case you could not tell, that I love our farm. I still pinch myself with happiness every time I turn the corner off the main road to start the drive up to our farm. When the road changes from asphalt to dirt, I still feel little goosebumps. :)

PPS - I've heard 'patience is a virtue'. It is certainly far less consuming and exhausting than worry, which is most often a waste of time and energy. My phoebe's arrival this morning (bird, not dog) reminded me of that. I can even think of a couple of lines from one of Mary Oliver's poems that mentions patience. I'll find it again to remind myself of that. :)