Spring finally sprung Thursday, with temperatures rising to 70, nary a cloud in the sky and slight wisps of breeze.

A nice day to take our minds off the drudgery of life - and I give credit to those who can think above the daily virus issues and keep a smile.

But it’s been wearing and I am also given to “low spots.”

Except for this morning. Missing the morning (daily) paper that now comes no earlier than 8:30, I sat with a coffee and a Romeo and Juliet on my patio, the sun just starting to beam through.

Then the resident cardinal chirped away. Cardinals have been at the feeder for several years, but this winter, one pair became two pair - and the territorial fight was on. But they have managed not to pluck each others’ feathers out.

Over the next 10 minutes, I counted the birds heard or seen from my sideyard.

Above, a pair of Blue Herons traveling from their rookery north of Big Lake to the lake waters - fishing time. A crow flew by.

The loons laughed it up on the lake; two wood ducks nesting in a sugar maple next to the house took flight.

A pair of mallards waddled by - they took a right turn and headed down Lakeshore Drive, looking for friends, I suppose. As casual as they are around us, they have to be looking for new friends.

Oriole feeders are out; I usually have two to three pair of them. They arrive between May 1-5.

A robin pulled grass together for their traditional mud nest in a crab apple tree. I slice up three-inch strings for their construction materials. It goes well for them.

A nuthatch landed atop the bird feeder, and a second later, my best little friends, the black capped chickadees were there.

At least one pair of bluebirds are back, they got first dibs on the house in my raspberry-perennial patch.

A downy woodpecker is residing in a second bluebird house.

Up from the lake - the shrill of sea gulls, who appeared just as the ice evaporated April 3. I remembered boating with a friend 15 years ago - he proudly announced to me they were “Herring Gulls.” I responded, “They must be here to eat the herring in the lake.”He didn’t talk to me for a couple of days. I don’t remember herring gulls in our vacinity 20-30 years ago.

A pileated woodpecker landed on the wood duck house of my neighbor and began his machine gun attack on some bugs in the wood. Poor wood ducks inside.

A pair of Canada geese veered overhead.

Seconds behind them, six Trumpeters guided their way through the blue skies. Trumpeters are aptly named, I’ll say.

It was a nice way to forget about COVID-19.