'Rumor in the air'

Eastern bluebird.

"In New York and New England the sap starts up in the sugar maple the very day the bluebird arrives, and sugar-making (see below) begins forthwith. The bird is generally a mere disembodied voice; a rumor in the air for two or three days before it takes visible shape before you.''

-- The late John Burroughs, naturalist and essayist.

"

Boiling off maple sap to make syrup in late winter and early spring.

The Green Mountain State is very  proud of its maple-syrup sector.