Editorial of March 3, 2025

Keep the Joyful Noise

It’s spring; we made it. The ice has gone, the snow almost, the rain has come, the daffodils are peeking through the dead brown leaves, and the birds have arrived. Early in the mornings we can venture outside and catch the joyful tunes of many of our old friends, singing to their hearts’ content: robins, a tufted titmouse, house finches, red-winged blackbirds and even a pair of fish crows who have brought their strangely unmelodic calls beyond their northern habitat, along with winter’s familiar cardinals, chickadees, blue jays, dark-eyed juncos, mourning doves, ravens, crows, and a variety of rapidly drumming woodpeckers, busy making houses for all their furred and feathered friends. Near the streams and the lake, the mergansers, mallards and Canada geese have sprung to life, claiming their mates and building their nests. The raptors are here, too, circling vigilantly and staring quietly from their high places. All these beloved birds cheer us immensely and offer us a glimpse into the warmer months ahead.