The spring bird migration offers hope in contrast to the depression of a pandemic
Finding joy from birds during the age of CORVID-19 A golden-winged warbler spent several days in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park/Photo by Ken Busch In late March and early April, hundreds of Northeast Ohio birders, freed from the confines of their homes and offices, poured into the parks and birding trails in an attempt to kick start the spring migration. We took joy in the simplest of new arrivals, celebrating first-of-the-spring yellow-bellied sapsuckers, Northern flickers, brown thrashers, and hermit thrush. Louisiana waterthrush/photo by Judy Semroc Watching our backyard feeders, we smiled as the last remaining dark-eyed juncoes, white-throated and tree sparrows of winter were joined by Eastern towhees, song, fox, white-crowned and chipping sparrows. Gradually, the trees and shrubs of our favorite birding spots became alive with flitting songbirds: yellow-rumped, black-and-white and palm warblers, golden-crowned and ruby-crowned kinglets, blue-gray gn