The day is cloudy with a cool east wind. About 40 degrees when I go for my morning walk. Many of the newly arrived migrant songbirds would have trouble feeding on this kind of day.

I decide to go to a bay where one shoreline is a shelter from this chilly wind. Along the route, I see some spring wildflowers — yellow violets, wood anemones and starflowers — that are looking normal despite the weather. Lady and interrupted ferns are unrolling their new growth for this coming season. But I see and hear no birds on this route.

Arriving at the bay and the sheltered shoreline, I notice quickly that I am not alone. Small birds are darting in the branches of alders, birches and maples. They stay low to avoid the wind. And yes, this site is much calmer than the surroundings, but still chilly.

The

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