Rites of Spring

( apologies to Igor Stravinsky)

I surely want to write about spring 2008, faithfully, meticulously and enthusiastically. The coming of Spring is like the visit of  a friend whom you have been waiting to arrive for so long. And you'd wish the visit would never end...

As spring commences  my backyard becomes  a play yard. Mating calls of different birds sound all night long. Don't they ever sleep? One could discern different avian species by their individual sounds, tunes and intensity. Back home, the only sound I recognized are the doves which at one time inhabited our attic. They slept there, they bred in there they defecated in there. Then one day, they just left as sudden as they appeared.

When morning breaks now a days I could see them mostly in pairs. Yes, these are the  love birds,  chasing each other in the grass, then on the branches and somehow they would dissapear in the bushes.

How do they make love?

Remember the barnyard antics of the rooster and the different hens? It is almost the same. The rooster jumps on the too willing hen. In our house before, there is always one King Rooster..He looked handsome, alert and very virile. His main job was to make the female ones happy and productive. They must produce lots of eggs, otherwise to the pot they would go!

Let us go back to the little brown birds in our backyard..

The small male bird would sit on top of another, making twittering sounds. It seems their mating lasts only a few seconds. But their companionship remains very constant. You would see them always flying together. Sometimes I see them doing it airborne. I just wonder how effectve it is.

 But wait for a few more weeks. The female of the species would soon build nests, lay eggs, hatch and the baby birds would be mingling with the others  trying to learn the mechanics of survival..

 

Ahhh..the joys of spring. The forsythias are in full yellow attire. Same yellow flowers would turn green in a few days. The tulips are now in full regalia.

Soon the phlox will dominate our front yard. In our backyard, we have small statuettes of houses, animals, flower baskets, etc. I amthe one arranging the figurines, trying to create a story situation in each group. When Emma pays us a visit, she would look at them and somehow tries to improve the arrangements so they would tell a better tale.

Photos would follow next.----#