Spring bird life

When we arrived last weekend, temperatures were nearing 65, and we worked outside in our t-shirts to the sound of the peepers. We immediately noticed the numerous grackles, early spring visitors, with their iridescent blue-black feathers, bright yellow eyes, diamond-shaped tails and loud, varied calls. There are some red-winged blackbirds among the grackles, and we saw a passle of starlings and an eastern phoebe today. Yesterday, however, the cold snap came, and snowflakes began to fall in place of sun rays. It was below freezing last night, raw, windy and in the 30s today. Olivia, Anette and I went on a late afternoon walk and I discovered two new species of bird that I have never observed before. The first was a brown creeper, making its way upwards along the trunk of a tree on the bank of the creek. The second, hopping amongst the tangled rose bushes, was a small and fat golden-crowned kinglet. I was thrilled by seeing both of these birds in the span of a couple of minutes, when all at once a pair of darkly-colored ducks went screaming (literally) up the creek into the woods. I gave chase and caught up with them twice, only to have them fly away again, uttering a series of loud cries. They may have been wood ducks, or even mergansers, but they were a uniform dark color from what I could see. I'll keep my eyes peeled the next time I venture down to that part of the meadow. - Alexander