The Return of the Meadowlark

As reported by Youngest Daughter, who lives down the lane, across the road and on the bank overlooking a riverside ranch whose meadows accommodate the first larks to come calling in these parts each spring.

Arrival date was the same as last year, - good scheduling.....

Husband and I worked all morning in the garden, listening carefully for the meadowlark's distinctive call, but all we heard were robins chirping, red wing blackbirds trilling, and the occasional quail complaining about the loss of their suite in the Pruning Block Apartments.

Firing of the prunings was an immediate concern, before it became a nesting spot for the quail, and luckily the countryside has abundant cover for little ones to grow up in.

On the farm the meadowlarks arrived with the first Yellow Bells and Buttercups, but here, closer to town, they are not as "at home" as they were on the benchlands and amongst the sage brush.

It was always exciting to be the one who heard the first meadowlark, and to be able to announce the arrival of Spring for Sure.

It was not reported whether the birds wore something green to honour the day.....