Weather!

Some people say the first sign of spring is robins returning to the north.

But at Coe, some robins stay all year round, hunting near the steam lines.

The true avian sign of spring?

Buzzards.

Those majestic and majestically ugly birds, more formally known as turkey vultures, return to Cedar Rapids at the same time every year--round about March 14, my younger son's birthday*. We are very aware of this in our family--first, because I'm a birder, and second, because the buzzards in Cedar Rapids roost at Brucemore, which is just a block from our house.

Every evening, before the sun goes down, they circle in the sky above their roosting place. Gorgeous from far away where you can't see their bald heads. Read more about them, and take a look at their winter and summer ranges at Cornell University's cool bird pages.

"Look, Eli," I say. "The buzzards want to tell you Happy Birthday."

*In Hinckley, Ohio, near where I grew up, there's an annual "Return of the Buzzard celebration" every year on March 15, complete with an "official buzzard spotter."