When the red, red robin comes …

The snow hadn’t even melted in the deep ditches that line our gravel road. The thoroughfare, swollen and muddy from frost working its way through the earthen profile, was pitted with deep, wet potholes. Water trickled down the ditches, running beneath the hard layer of snow and ice left there, appearing every now and then in open patches where sun had penetrated through openings in the tree line, melting small areas down to the leaves and silty earth at the bottom of the ditch.

Walking along the roadside, I spotted the sweetest sight, a sight that leaves an indelible impression on the mind. There, in the ditch, two robins bathed side by side in a small pool of water between clumps of hard-packed snow. They appeared not to notice my intrusion, so I stopped in the road about 30 feet away and observed.

If you’ve watched birds bathe in a garden bath, you know what an amusing sight their splashing and preening can be. But these birds, bathing in the only bit of open water in sight – it was something to behold. Their feet were grounded like anchors to the ground, but their bodies were a flutter of movement. They splashed and smoothed their feathers. They opened their wings, beat them madly and folded them under in unnatural positions to splash in the water. They dipped their tiny beaks and heads in the icy stream and came up shaking off the droplets that stuck to their minute head feathers.

The pair kept a wary eye on each other and on everything around. And when one decided it didn’t like the looks of me, together they darted off for the cover of nearby brush.

These weren’t the first robins of spring, but they were indeed a special sight. So many of us note the beginning of spring by the sight of migratory birds, such as the robin returning to our yard. When the bluebirds first come to rest on the electrical wires overhead, when the cardinal perches on the apple tree in the yard, when the geese fly north high overhead, the spring of plant life must be soon coming.

But really, nothing heralds the advent of spring more than the soundtrack that accompanies these varied birds. Winter is long, hard and deathly quiet. It’s the music of spring birds that cues us into truly believing that that long season is over, and that the liveliness of spring is just around the corner.

Gardening and landscaping can have a much greater purpose than enjoyment by the people who frequent your yard. Your mix of flower gardens, shrub plantings and trees supplies birds with food and shelter for protection and nesting. Your shallow pools and waterways may provide these beautiful creatures drinking or bathing water.

Birds depend on a variety of foods. Some birds are mainly seed eaters. Others eat insects and berries. Still others dine mainly on insects or sip nectar.

Seed eaters will come to your yard if you offer sunflowers, coreopsis, cosmos, gloriosa daisies, columbines, black-eyed Susans, purple coneflowers and asters in your garden. Remember not to remove spent blooms if you are gardening for the birds; leave those passing flowers on the plant so the seeds may ripen and provide necessary food.

Small trees and shrubs produce berries that fruit-eating birds enjoy. Hawthorn, cotoneaster, coralberry, dogwood, bayberry, elderberry, viburnums, autumn olive and blueberries are attractive to berry eaters.

Birds such as thrashers, thrushes and sparrows scratch among the dead leaves on the ground looking for insects to eat. While raking and grooming the yard is a common practice in spring, leaving some leaf litter beneath hedges, trees and shrubbery provides habitat for insects. In turn, the insects offer a food source for insect-eating birds.

Many gardeners know that nectar-loving birds such as the hummingbird often find their food in tubular-shaped flowers. Plants such as columbine, cardinal flower, butterfly bush, honeysuckle, morning glory vines, tithonia, petunia, trumpet vine, nasturtium, sage, nicotiana and balsam seem particularly attractive to these tiny beauties.

In addition to essential food, birds require safe nesting sites in the summer. Naturally, birdhouses provide this shelter, but clusters of evergreens such as yews, mugho pines, arborvitaes, spruces and junipers are excellent selections for bird shelter. Brush piles also provide coverts, and may offer protection to ground-feeding birds. A thoughtfully placed and intentionally constructed brush pile provides sanctuary from both the weather and predators. When constructing a brush pile for birds, consider crafting several entrances and exits so the residents of the structure can move about easily and escape quickly if necessary.

Diana George Chapin is the NEWS garden columnist. Send horticulture questions to Gardening Questions, 512 North Ridge Road, Montville 04941, or e-mail dianagc@midcoast.com. Selected questions will be answered in future columns. Include name, address and telephone number.