I spotted one cardinal fledgling this morning. Have been seeing a pair for the past three or four weeks - annual visitors for the past few years. Well, I really haven't the faintest idea if it's the same pair. This year the male has been extremely flamboyant and active.

I'm trying so hard to remember if cardinals nested here before the hurricanes of 2004. I really don't recall. What I do know is realizing that different birds and plants appeared in 2005. I was convinced then, and am still, that the migration routes for various birds had been distrupted by the damage done by the hurricanes and were, therefore, adjusted, resulting in Central Florida's inhabitation of birds that hadn't migrated through here before.

And I know the spores of various plants that weren't located here before were carried to this area by the winds. Where these came from (Africa? South America? The islands? South Florida?) is a mystery to me. At least one of those plants really kicks up my sinuses; I had pretty much become accustomed to the Central Florida pollen after 25 years, but now Spring brings itchy eyes and night-time congestion/post nasal drip that I hadn't had for a long time, if ever, before.

Whatever. Both new cycles of flora and fauna are just reminders that nature is bigger than all of mankind, and will never be fully tamed.

After I left the porch, I went into my bedroom to discover a beautiful, ready-to-burst bud on the banana tree, on a branch about 8 - 10 feet from my bedroom window. So I took a quick snap with me camera and added that photo to the "April" album in my "Serendipity in 2008" series in the Gallery. There's also a partially-opened blossom in the picture. This spring has been particularly beautiful here in Central Florida, with all the rain we had in late March and early April.

Just had to sit down and write about the loveliness around me this morning.