Morning arrives earlier and earlier

I thought I'd overslept today: woke when it was almost light. But no, it is just the day dawning a few minutes earlier each morning. How quickly the earth spins moves in its annual path. More noticeable too, here in New York, as we are further north than we were in California. But not so far north: despite harsher winters, this is 40 45' 40 north, the equivalent of Naples in Italy, or a few miles north of Madrid in Spain.

The birds are hungry. I have to refill the feeder. It is attracting not only all the American equivalents of bluetits, plus several pairs of bluejays and a gang of starlings, but also several bright-red cardinals . (These are the birds that had Jade jumping up-and-down saying, "I saw a red bird, I saw a red bird!" like it was Long John Silver's long-lost parrot or something. They are very special the first time you see one--bigger than an English robin, and very cheeky.) You can hear one singing on Whatbird: http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/692/_/Northern_Cardinal.aspx