As ill-tempered April gives way to a hopefully more docile and friendly May, things are beginning to change around our part of the country. Daytime temperatures are easing on up to the upper 80s and it's beginning to actually feel like spring, unlike that heifer, April, that stayed chilly, wet and nasty enough to keep the turkeys from gobbling.

When April left, she took with her some of the birds that spent the winter in our part of the world. Goldfinches have put on golden coats for their trip north, replacing the olive drab we saw all winter. The pine siskins that hung around with the goldfinches this winter have been reluctant to leave; flocks of them are still around the feeders.