Over Coffee with Ellen: Sounds of spring are music to the ears of nature lovers

The sun is shining brightly, and the days are much warmer than even a week ago.

There are two bird feeders in our backyard.

I am sure many of you also have bird feeders in your yards.

When I leave the house, the silence of the north country is filled with the beautiful sounds of the birds nearby.

I can hear chirping and scolding when I walk too close to the feeders with one bird calling out the name of our feline friend Tigger.

Yes, there is one bird whose call sounds exactly like “Tigger.”

And I know the sound of the killdeer.

I smiled this week when an email that I received advertised an app for my phone where I could hear the sounds of birds.

Listening to bird sounds might be helpful if I was trying to identify the ones I heard.

I am not attempting to identify the birds in our yard.

I only want to listen to the beauty of the sounds of the north country.

To do that successfully, I do not need my phone. I have no desire to download an app for listening to nature.

I would encourage you this week to turn off your phone, perhaps even leave it inside as you walk to the store or to the car.

Although, I must admit, I love taking pictures of the beauty around us for remembering and to share with family.

Yes, everyone received a photo of the crocus in our yard.

With your phones put away, you will then be able to listen to the sound of the birds nearby.

How grateful I am for the sounds of the north country.

As I visit with our son as he walks to and from work on the streets of New York City, where he now calls home, I hear cars, sirens and the loud noises of the city.

At times, the noise is so loud that we must stop talking to wait for the sounds of the city to subside.

Isn’t the north country a wonderful place to live where the sound of cars and sirens never interfere with the beauty of nature?

The only background sound is the wonderful beat as the horses’ hooves strike the pavement as they pass our home.

Take a moment this week and walk outside, listening to the beauty of the sounds of the north country.

WARMEST WISHES

Lucia Johnson celebrates her birthday Tuesday. Lucia is an extraordinary woman.

She is a wonderful poet (take a moment this week and read her poems about life — and birds at her feeder — in her book “Glimpses of Life”), a marvelous cook and an amazing “coffee-drinking” friend.

Time spent with this lovely woman (and her daughters Marilyn, Stephanie and Charlene) is always very special.

How grateful I am that on a Hannaford shopping trip, I learned Lucia had had her recipe published in the store’s magazine.

Contact was made through the store’s manager. I shared her story in this column, and a beautiful friendship has developed since that time.

I am continually grateful for connections through this printed page.

Have a wonderful birthday, Lucia. You certainly deserve only the best as you celebrate.

ITHACA HAWK FAMILY

Since 2012, the red-tailed hawks have built their nests on light towers near the Cornel University athletic field in Ithaca.

My friend Ruth first told me about the red-tailed hawks.

She volunteers at the Nicandri Nature Center in Massena and first saw the videos there.

I have watched with interest on YouTube since that time — watching the hawk couple building their nest and caring for the eggs and then the newborn chicks before they leave the nest.

The mother bird is Big Red (the Cornell sports teams are called Big Red) with the current mate named Arthur.

This past week, I was able to see Big Red carefully turning her three blue spotted eggs.

This past weekend, the mother hawk has been sitting on her eggs covering them completely so there was no watching to see if there was an additional egg.

Search Cornell Lab of Ornithology to see this marvelous event in Ithaca.

It is great fun to watch as the bird parents’ care for the eggs and their young.

COFFEE WORTH

I am sure anyone who has ever met me or read this column realizes I do enjoy coffee.

Although I do enjoy “good” coffee, I have discovered it isn’t as much the coffee but the dear friends and neighbors I enjoy it with who make my coffee a “good” cup of the brew.

This week, I learned there is a coffee in Panama that is supposed to be the very best coffee.

The coffee beans are harvested “where earth meets heaven, where the altitude is perfect and the volcanic soil is the place to grow” coffee beans.

The coffee is called Panamanian Geisha and costs $1,000 a pound, with a cup of this specialty coffee $100!

Tasters told the reporter the coffee was “unlike any they had tasted.”

I have thought about this coffee this week and its expense, and know I would never spend $100 on coffee.

In fact, I was concerned this past week when I had to spend $1.99 for a cup of coffee!

As I have thought about the cost of good coffee this week, I have realized that for me it isn’t the coffee that I enjoy — it is spending time with family and friends that is important.

Recently, I met two dear friends at Tim Hortons in Massena for coffee.

What a very special Sunday morning that was.

Take-out coffee from Dunkin’ to share with friends in Massena on a Friday morning made that day a very good one.

Sunday morning coffee made by Bruce always makes the day wonderful.

And coffee shared with Lucia has always been a marvelous time.

I have no plans to order coffee from Panama but will continue to visit over coffee in the home of a friend or at local coffee shops.

And I will be grateful for coffee shared with friends through this column or, better yet, with a cup of coffee in hand to enjoy.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

“Life doesn’t have to be perfect to be wonderful.”

— Annette Funicello