Call of the wild

Snow again this morning and the goldfinches are out in force. Twelve or 14 of them were flitting around the feeders this morning, about half of them bright yellow males. I guess it's a good year for goldfinches. I saw the first kingfisher of the season yesterday but we've been hearing them for a week or so. The towhees are back and very vocal, but I'm still waiting for the orioles. This year there wasn't much of a gap between the departure of the juncoes and the arrival of the towhees, assuring a sort of color balance in the yard: one group of little black birds leaves and another arrives to take its place. The towhees are singing "Drink your tea!" Who could resist such a charming command?