Birding by ear can be a tricky way to identify a bird that you can’t see, but often times a familiar sound can tell you exactly what bird is in your vicinity. Certain birds have such distinct songs and calls, or their sounds are so familiar because we hear them year round, that we hardly have to even try to match bird with sound; the sound alone can conjure up the bird in our mind’s eye.

Well, I thought I heard seagulls the other day when I stepped outside the Curlew post office. I looked up, fully expecting to see them circling in the dusky blue sky. My ears were hearing the calls and insistent cries of seagulls, but my brain was telling me that seagulls do not live in Curlew.

While out and about for the last several weeks I’ve been hearing about all the various signs of spring. It seems to be the favorite topic in the post office, grocery stores, restaurants, and anywhere we are in a position to talk about our favorite subject—the weather. As a birder I tune in immediately to any conversation around me that involves birds, and lately birds have started to figure into references about spring.

Canada Geese were one of the first birds to elicit the excitement of spring’s imminent return, and certainly the most boisterous. As if to herald the arrival of Persephone herself, they came flying in with their loud, unmistakable honking and cackling, putting smiles on the faces of all who heard them.