Spring Ahead

Traditionally, according to some accepted avian almanac, it’s a robin sighting that heralds the first sign of spring. I’m not sure from whence this bit of old-wives wisdom arises, but around here it’s the brilliant flash of a male cardinal that does the job. Maybe robins are indeed hanging about but they’re too quiet to call attention to themselves whilst the cardinal’s piercing shriek, a mating call for the ages, rends the warming air. Right outside my bedroom window, second floor, on the topmost branch of the leafless weeping cherry, perched a good replica of the above photo. Even the sparrows lined up to stare. Nice!