It's a beautiful Spring day. Spring things are happening all over the place and irrigation day is the best day to observe them. Today, the most exciting have been bird-eriffic. When we irrigate, the property turns into marshy lakeland and the birds love it. Also, its mating season.This morning, I saw a roadrunner mating dance. A male and female were dancing loops around each other, the male furiously wagging his tail feathers and leaping into the air, the female just running here and there, but staying close to her mate. Seeing them in action reminded me of when we saw the bunny mating dance in St. Paul. That was even more wild: they stood on their hind legs and boxed each other. Wow, that was cool. But this was cool too. Roadrunners are by far my favorite birds, they hardly seem like birds at all they're so distinctive. They don't fly, exactly, they put their heads down and run, fast, with some swooping mixed in. Plus they are fearless and clever. The grackles have been going nuts all day, as they do every time we irrigate. Grackles make a wide range of sounds: high cackling, smooth long single tones, cascading ripples, trills, and crow-like caws. They're a lot of fun. We like them, as does our neighbor, Gene. A pair of ducks landed in the back field when it was at it's most lake-like and swam around hunting for bugs and snails that rise to the surface. They're still hanging out back there at 6:30, enjoying the cool mud. The roadrunner couple came back late in the afternoon with twigs and began what is probably a nest inside the Pyracantha. Oh boy, baby roadrunners!!