Spring is in the air -- and it's February

Red-winged blackbird in Buttertubs Marsh

As a boy growing up in rural southern Ontario, one of the welcome songs of spring came from the return of the Red-winged blackbird with their distinctive song. I presume it was likely the males that did the singing trying to attract a mate for the season of renewal ahead. The males are the ones decked out with the fancy clothes and the females wear a sensible camo outfit to hide while safely hatching the brood.

Of course living in the Sunporch of Canada we are treated to this harbinger of the spring to come when the rest of the country is trying to dig out their cars.