The bird party is back.
For a while now, they've been slowly arriving. For a while now, the early birds have appeared at the feeders - one, one day, two, the next - hungry from their flights from who knows where.
But now, it's a full-on jamboree. The late arrivals, perhaps held up at some customs' office in the sky, have finally made clearance - and a bee line for my yard.
I get the feeling they know each other, and have perhaps been here before.
It's all in the chatter.
Or make that, the song.
Whatever it is, the birds are in party mode, creating a spectacular racket.
Perhaps they're telling each other about the beaches they saw in Mexico or about their journeys up the coast. Perhaps they're trading stories about their stops in California or the wind conditions along the way.
In any case, they don't seem travel weary. Far from it.
If anything, they're in celebratory mode, clearly giddy with the fact they've returned, two wings intact, to find a meal at the ready.
They're pretty smart, in spite of the size of their brains.
As I say, I like to think they're at my place, not because they happened to chance upon it, but because they consulted with each other on departure day and agreed on the destination, recalling, from earlier visits, that the property had decent nesting grounds and more-thandecent food.
The husband thinks I'm loony. How, he asks, could I possibly believe in frequent flyers? True enough, I guess.
After all, it's not as if I recognize any of them. It's not as if they respond to names.
It's not as if they've taken to signing a guest book or thanking me for providing the same food this year that I offered last spring.
It's just a hunch.
They look alike, and they sound the same.
And they're partying it up like crazy.
It's a magical season, spring.
For some folks, of course, it's heralded by a date on the calendar.
For others, it's the appearance of a crocus or an apple blossom. Maybe it's signalled by the reopening of a restaurant patio or the sound of a lawn mower or the reappearance of straw hats and sandals.
For me, it's the birds that are back in the trees. For me, it's the sound of music.
