A bright blue sky after a snowstorm can bring welcome color to what can often be a monochromatic landscape. Even more welcome, when winds are blowing, snow is falling, and the temperature takes a nose dive is the sight of chickadees, titmice, jays, and juncos flitting around outside, particularly if you have a bird feeder or a bush with a few berries left in your backyard.
But real excitement comes when, in the middle of winter, a robin shows up in a bush or a bluebird at the feeder. While these birds are symbols of warmer times, many spend all winter in the North, mostly off in wetlands where there’s a bounty of berries and seeds to eat. However, a good storm may bring them to your yard in search of food and perhaps shelter.
And in their blue backs and red breasts, we get glimpses of the spring to come, when the full array of life will return to our now barren landscape.