I'm very much enjoying my first Spring in rural upstate New York.

In the past couple of hours spent sipping tea and looking out through a large glass sliding door, I've seen a rainbow...

Red - Cardinals and Rose Breasted Grosbeaks.
Orange - a small flock of Baltimore Orioles, and Robins.
Yellow - American Goldfinches and Evening Grosbeaks.
Green - females of the above.
Blue - Eastern Bluebirds.
Indigo - I'll cheat a little - the deeper shades of Blue Jays.
Violet - throngs of Purple Finches.

I'll always remember the beauty of Colorado, and I do miss Mountain Chickadees, Pygmy Nuthatches, and Magpies. Haven't spotted any Pelicans here, either.

I've been won over, though, by the beauty of the mountains and the rich diversity of the migrating songbirds and visiting Turkeys under a canopy of Eagles, various Hawks and Falcons, and the gracefully circling Turkey Vultures.

I think I'm going to fit in here.

so be it

needn't be this way

but it must

another one

Spring smiles of new life

fade to red

full sunshine

untrodden snowfield

prismatic

My wife and I moved east from Colorado a few years ago, and we've settled in upstate NY after a couple years in western PA.

We're tremendously pleased here, and getting to know the birds that visit our rural property.

I hope I never take the presence of any species for granted again, as I get wistful, a little teary eyed even, missing some that I used to see every day... especially magpies, mountain chickadees, and pygmy nuthatches (two individuals in particular who became dear friends.)

If I thought harder, I'd miss more. Steller's jays, Western meadowlarks, dammit.

Love the ones you're with.

I noticed a turkey running around our yard with something flapping around in its beak, closely pursued by the rest of the rafter. It was windy, and I thought maybe it had picked up a stray piece of plastic or something.

I took a look with the binoculars, and was surprised to see it was a struggling chickadee.

It lay motionless on the snow when thrown aside.

I've seen a Cardinal bunting, a turkey crane, a chickadee swallow, and a titmouse on a lark.

buried seeds

snow on turkeys' backs

sudden storm