Spring blankets Alabama in a lyrical fashion

Oh this spring distraction.

I will look you in the eyes and listen as carefully as I can. But it’s the long-winded and involved conversations of the yellow-breasted chat that capture my ear. Hold what you’re saying: A dunn sparrow has sucked in the bright air of the longleaf savanna, rolled it up, stretched it out into a song that I cannot get out of my head.

Troops of indigo buntings have infiltrated their old stomping grounds, weaving colorless and camouflaged through the thickets, until a flare of sunlight ignites their midnight blue. A bobwhite marks the edges of the upper field with single notes, testing to see if the broomsedge is ready for its full-fledged conjugal call.