For lo, the winter is past and the time of the singing birds is here.

There are birds everywhere now and all of them are occupied in one way or another with procreating. We  have a little phoebe nesting by our front door for the third year in a row.  This inconveniences us a lot because we have to use the back door while she's nesting.

My neighbor told me a funny story yesterday. She looked outside to see her Walter, her chow dog, who looks  like a giant teddy bear, asleep in the yard.  There was a small bird perched on him, frantically pecking his fur and with a huge mop of fur hanging from its beak.  After watching for a couple of minutes, my neighbor went outside to shoo the bird away. She was concerned that the bird would damage Walter's fur and he is in a show this weekend.  The bird wouldn't leave until she actively approached it and shooed it.

Somewhere nearby there's a really soft nest.  It reminded me to put out all the bits of yard and fluff I've been saving all year for the birds.