Sweet Sounds in Winter

There isn't a whole lot of birdsong around these parts in winter, but what we get is well worth the hearing. I hear the Towhees now and then (a distinctive Towwww-hee! call note), and occasional trills from our energetic Carolina Wrens, and even some Pine Warbler trills. But the star of the show is the White Throated Sparrow. They avoid my feeders, but are content to scratch for offerings in a section of the yard where I cast seed on the ground. And every so often they'll fire off a sweet, liquid "O Canada Canada" song to let me (or at least someone) know they are still around. Call me crazy but when I hear that one the temperature seems to rise ten degrees and for a brief moment it is springtime. Regrettably, when spring comes these characters will not be part of it. And just as regrettably --and unthinkingly-- I'll be so caught up in the cacophony of the spring cast that I will forget about the White Throated Sparrows. I still have a few more weeks to enjoy their sweet sounds.