Pink tulips

Every spring I look forward to the blooming of the hundreds and pink tulips our neighbor has planted in her back yard. I can see this gorgeous display gradually come to life from the windows that face her property.

I thought a couple weeks ago that the poor plants were doomed with the snow and cold weather we had, but nature is amazingly resilient!

My little dove couple came back again. I know spring is really here when I hear them "cooing" to each other. They like my deck for some reason and are always out there and don't even seem afraid of me anymore. I think they are really sweet. They look like they are kissing here in this photo. They have a nest built in our maple tree and maybe will have some little baby doves? That is if the mean ol' starlings leave them alone.

If I could describe starlings as compared to human beings, I would categorize them as the neighborhood bullies and thugs. They are very aggressive, make an awful mess and scare all the songbirds away. We can't put our gas barbecue grill outside on our deck because the starlings make a nest out of it and what a nightmarish sight that is to behold when you open the grill lid and see that stuff inside! I tried everything to keep them out, but whatever I put up to keep them out of the nooks and crannies to prevent them from going in there, they manage to find their way in. So, we surrendered and the gas grill is inside the garage and when we want to barbecue we have to drag it out onto the driveway out front and cook there.

There used to be a bitd that tweeted out the first part of the tune of Old MacDonald Had a Farm. It came around for about two years, and I haven't heard it this year. It must have died. It had to have been some kind of magpie or species that mimicked human tunes and noises because no one ever heard of a bird that had a song even resembling Old MacDonald. Oh well. I do have it on a video tape somewhere.

I love birds, listening to the birds sing is quite relaxing. I can sit on my deck and take it all in...the pink tulips, the birds singing and looking at all the lacy tree branches where buds are starting to open up everywhere.