it begins

{One year ago, give or take a day.}

Ah.....we've been watching...hoping...and waiting for this. On March 1st, we turned our bird calendar to a page full of robins - and we all wondered, "Really? This month, they'll return?"

We began preparing the bird book basket - which sits out all year long - with some new additions. The beautiful How To Paint The Portrait of A Bird - a magical tale of dreamy bird love (thank you for the recommend, Jennifer!). And of course, our treasured Bird Song purchased just last year - with the binding falling apart and already in need of duct tape from it's frequent and oh-so-loved use. And the requests to visit the photos in Birds of the World have been increasing each day. And then more waiting.

Then last week, in between the snowfall, we spied our first cardinal pair, frolicking amidst the piles of white, searching for the bits of food.

And just yesterday that we had our first real Spring "bird moment" of the season. Where our little family crowds around the windows or quietly opens the door and tiptoes onto a porch to stare, marvel and wonder at the magic we see. Robins, chickadees, cardinals, a woodpecker (it's type debated heavily amongst the Soule Birders - if only because we're all eager for a good bird debate), and a turkey vulture - all out there yesterday morning at the same time. There was running for the bird books, and the camera....but more than either of those things, there was a lot of watching. And hushed whispers of, "Do you see...?" and "It's a...!". And a lot of big eyes. 10, to be precise.

With big eyes and open windows, we found that silence within - silence that is so rarely found in this noisy house of five. Silence as we closed our mouths and opened our ears and hearts to hear them sing their bird songs.

Oh, I think it's magic. Simply magic.

Comments

[carly]

you have such a beautiful family
xx

[Nanette]

I love the photo with your little ones and how the seat of the chair echoes the following photos. So nice.

[Carrie]

I hope our Bird Song book will be in bad shape as well, because I hope our daughter will be a birder along with us,it is so magical,isn't it?

[jean]

open windows, open soul. it is slowly, slowly on its way.

[n8cherluver]

I don't think the robin has had too hard of time this winter....look how proud he is....looking like Napoleon. This is a beautiful picture...red being my favorite color. Thanks, Amanda, for whisking me away to a snowy place ever so briefly.

[Kate]

Some of my favorite mama moments are when I witness my little ones quietly attuned to and connecting with nature. It really is Magical, as you say.
Our birds stick around all winter this far south, but just a week or two ago the sound of the spring peepers singing their night music reappeared and we had a very similar experience. Hurray for signs of spring!

[Marcy]

We had our first spring robin sighting yesterday here in Western PA. So thrilling! We also saw a red bellied woodpecker and a groundhog poking up from his hole.

[beautythatmoves]

gorgeous moments captured, amanda. and again with my first impressions... read the title, saw the first pic and thought... those kiddos are birdwatching!

spring, you really are coming soon.

[brandie]

we saw some cardinals too. we thought they must be thinking, it's freaking cold here! let's go south!!

[Christy]

How delightful! We have a couple of squirrels we watch from the back side of our house, not to mention all the birdies, the occasional frog or two, and then the neighborhood cats, coming to hunt... LOL, I love that your family enjoys such simple pleasures.

[Penny in VT]

Us too! Us too! we saw our first Robin on Saturday - I wonder if it was headed up your way!

It is the *best* feeling so see a robin after such a wintry winter :)

[sarah]

oh i so love reading your beautiful everyday happenings. here in the south the birds are here all year round. but at the wildlife refuge we get to see far away birds. my favorite this year where the whooping cranes. my kids recently did some paints of birds for their uncles birthday. you can check them out at flickr, i'm 4 in the south + pets.

[sarah]

i absolutely agree. I'm a new birder, just a year under my belt and I can't believe how much joy I find when I look out at the feeder several times a day and see "my birds" out there. The kids love it too and YES! there are some wonderful quiet Beautiful moments as we all stand there gazing at them.

[Kirsten]

Early morning ritual, coffee and reading new posts. I got up from yours to let the dog out, opened the door to a symphony of bird song. Looked up towards a sound I haven't heard in awhile, unfamiliar to me these winter days, and there atop a tall spruce, breast puffed out and proud, was a robin. Huh...funny how that works.

[Suzanne]

We already had cardinals visit the feeders as well. Rowdy bluejays have been here all winter! We love birding:-)

[Amy]

As always, this post a wonderful combination of warmth, joy and inspiration. I can feel an Amazon order coming on, yes I can.

Of course robins are here year round so there is a great opportunity to explain why all the poems and books are... well, not wrong really but... wrong. You guys have looked at this site surely --

http://www.learner.org/jnorth/search/Robin.html

One book that we enjoy is *Aska's Birds* - magical paintings paired with poems about bird's "jobs."

http://www.amazon.com/Askas-Birds-David-Day/dp/0385253885

Another one we discovered last year is
*Today at the Bluebird Cafe* -- again whimsical poems and great fun illustrations

http://www.amazon.com/Today-Bluebird-Cafe-Branchful-Birds/dp/0689871538

Happy birding, happy spring.

[jessica]

you mean, you don't have cardinals in the winter?!? oh, my winters would be so bleak without them. their red cheery feathers against the bleak gray ohio winter sky keep me going every day. i am thankful beyond words for our winter visitors to our bird feeder.

and, i must say thank you commenters for your wonderful book recommendations!! we are bird obsessed here and need some new additions to our bird guides and books.

awesome post, amanda!

[marcella]

Oh,those wonderful learning moments!

[julie]

Magical-- it is!

[Sarah Jackson]

That really is magic. I know there's not much that silences my house, but I think that would do it.

[Amy]

We love that Bird Songs book! My son can look and listen to it for quite a long time.

[Brenda@CoffeeTeaBooks&Meb]

I wrote on my blog about our family tradition where we all are trying to be the one to see the first robin of the season. There is no real winner (except our stuffed Beany Baby robin) but there is truly "bragging rights" throughout the year. My husband saw the first robin this year.

Then yesterday, I picked up the phone and there was the softest and cutest voice on the other end. It seems my six year old granddaughter was the first to see a robin where they live (New England) and she had to call and tell me all about it.

The tradition goes on with the next generation. :)

[Susan]

Your post gave me a fresh perspective because I live in the South and there is a never a time of year that we don't have birds. In fact, we get more than normal in the Winter- this year we had a flock of Canadian Geese wintering at our pond. We do love them, but I suppose we take our birds for granted!

[TD wool design]

we love the morning song birds at the early bus stop. it's almost light and everything is so peaceful, with the real noise of the day still tucked away.

[asti]

Funny, I just took some pictures this morning of a young robin. He was SO close to me and not at all afraid...and then he looked me in the eye and sung to me. It was totally amazing.....they are such lovely birds. Love the top pic by the way :)

[camerashymomma]

i'm so glad the birds arrived! makes all that snow almost bearable, knowing your bird friends come back each and every year.

[elliebelle]

Your writing is pure poetry - very magical. It always brings a bit of serenity to my day, thank you for that!
Here is Wisconsin I just heard the birds for the first time this weekend, and like you, I knew that spring had to be just around the corner!

[Lisa]

Great pictures. The kids look so cute looking out the window for feathered friends.

Have a nice day!

[Rubyellen]

Your kids are simply amazing!

[kristen]

Proof that long awaited spring returns yet again! And never too soon! Nice post.
Kristen

[Mary Beth]

I love your beautiful bird photos! And such an inspiring post.

[kristin]

loving the kiddos peeping out the window!!! and i agree - connecting with the birds, especially this time of year is magical. we just caught glimpses of a little red finch at one of our new favorite birding spots. if your open to it (like obviously you guys are) each glimpse is like a gift. :) enjoy the bird parade soules!

[Heather]

The purple finches, pheobe's, robin's, and gold finches that have spent a cozy winter in my Alabama backyard are moving on. A few less come each day meaning they are on their way to you. I know the Soule family will enjoy them as much as I have!
We also said goodbye to the Great Blue Heron who is off looking for a mate. If you see him, send our love.

[coastalgirl]

We had a robin fest here in the south around February 18th. Thousands of robins dropped from the sky ahead of a storm and it looked somewhat like monarch migration, but with robins blanketing everywhere instead. A few pics taken with the telephoto lens of robins on cars, fences, roof tops:
http://coastalgirl.typepad.com/coastalgirl/2008/02/a-part-of-robin.html
enjoy watching the birds..I agree it's great fun for the little ones.

[Danette]

Last week for the first time in months I woke up to the sweet singing of a few birds outside the window. I stayed in bed as long as possible to listen to their song. So happy to have them back. It was a much needed pause and I must say the rest of the day was excellent as well. I'm loving the changing season.

[denice]

WOOOHOOOO!!! Hurray for the return of the robin! We spied ours at last just over a week ago. Woot!

[Donna]

Do you know what we learned this winter at the Nature Center? Robins don't migrate south, they just hide in secluded thickets and deep in the woods. When it's warmer they come out. So sighting them means Spring is arriving, but they've actually been here all along! (at least in Ohio).

Beautiful narrative, thanks for sharing!

[melissa s.]

Wow that blue sky is amazing, and what a contrast from yesterday's post! Beautiful as always!

[simply]

wonderful post...beautiful pictures...my children and I loved to read about your bird adventures...it's been the same on our end...our "bird song" book, a present to our daughter, is also warn in. We write on the page after we see (or hear)that bird in our area...we have quite a collection of pages now and some birds that were not suppossed to be in our area that show up here... ...That is a very exciting discovery.

~simply~

[Dharmamama]

I, too, don't know what I'd do without our winter cardinals. I love how the different birds appear at the feeders at different times in the morning. Watched by 14 eyes here! We have 4 very aware cats.

I just read on the Good News Network that a new bird species was discovered in Indonesia! How cool is that?

http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org

[greenemother]

Wow, that's a tubby little red robin~ He's had a good winter!

[Toni]

Noah got the Bird Song book last year for his birthday! As I type he is thumbing through it while he eats his hot cereal,definitely a favorite.

Something funny--the other day I was taking a cat nap and heard the sweetest bird song out my window. I was thinking "I haven't heard that bird around here before, wow, so pretty." I soon realized that it was Noah in the other room using his bird book! :)

[Karen]

Hi Amanda,

Here's another book you might be interested in: Common Birds and Their Songs (Book and Audio C.D.) by Lang Elliot

Have a great day!

Karen

[elizabeth]

Amanda-
Do you wash/dry your linen before you embroider it? I was so impatient and just started embroidering this last time and I liked the feel better unwashed. Usually I wash/dry/iron first. But, now I think I am limited in how I use the finished product. Thanks for your advice.

[Gumbo Lily]

We have heard (not yet sighted) our first meadowlark of spring. We too are bird watchers and lovers. I love seeing a young family taking to the windows to see the first birds of Spring.

Jody

[jessamyn]

how incredibly perfect and beautiful! thank you for sharing.
the brightness of that cardinal is just breathtaking!

[Paper Dolls for Boys]

Happy spring to your happy family!
Your posts always make me smile but today you've made me look to the sky. Thanks,
Tracey

[elise]

wow.
your family is magic.

[cloth.paper.string]

magic indeed.

[Elizabeth]

well said. :> my kids and i appreciate birds more because of you guys.