The sparrows are coming! The sparrows are coming!

We are a small oasis of trees in the middle of a lot of grainland so it is always a concern that the birds will simply fly right over top of us and never drop by even for a visit.  But inevitably some of them do.  And this week it was the White-throated and White-crowned Sparrows.  And they brought their songs with them.  (This is the White-crowned here, looking quite cute, I think.)

It is still unseasonably cold here, and rainy, which despite the proverb (April showers bring...) is very rare for us.  Normally we are seeding into dry ground and fervently praying for rain to make the crops grow.  This winter was cold and lengthy, but the snow melted quickly which allowed most of the moisture to run off. Now, though it means we have cold, cloudy days, at least the rain will be sinking the moisture into the soil where we need it. And, we hope, in a couple of days it will warm up and even more spring birds will drop in and check us out.