It's Spring?!

Yesterday, my first day at home, was one of relaxation.  I checked all my mail, paid all my bills (that wasn't so relaxing!), browsed through the back issues of the paper, and started reading some of the magazines.  I did a wash and I went grocery shopping.  I sat on the deck.  And I drank a glass of wine, two glasses actually.  It was a day to recharge.

This morning is a different matter entirely.  It is raining outside which means I'm cleaning today.  But before beginning that task there's coffee to drink, breakfast to eat.  So there I was standing at the kitchen door looking out at the herb garden when I saw two robins scuffling on the ground.  As I watched longer, realization dawned on me.  They weren't scuffling, they were involved in their version of cattle sex!  I've never, ever seen birds do it but for the life of me, it resembled the second episode I mentioned in the earlier blog but in miniature.

The female was on bottom.  In her beak she had bits of straw, clearly for nest making.  He would hop up on her and flap his wings a bit and then slip off.  She'd hop a bit away but not too far.  He'd hop on again.  She'd hop away again.  Clearly she was a willing participant otherwise, she could have just flown away.  The dance went on for a few more times until he got himself squarely set.  The deed itself didn't take long.  Perhaps he saw me in the window.  Perhaps he had seeds yet to sew.  Either way, he flew off.  She stayed behind, fluffed her feathers a bit, jiggled her body some.  Through it all she never opened her beek but instead held tightly to her bit of straw.  Once her feathers settled, she flew off to line her nest, I'm sure. 

So, what do you think?  Does the saying about ruffling feathers come from the bird sex act?  And when they say that spring is in the air, what are they really referring to?  I wonder.