TODAY IS the first full day of spring, the vernal equinox having occurred at 1:32 p.m. Saturday, and some Ogden Nash-like doggerel (its exact authorship is unknown) comes to mind. It is best read with a New York accent: "Spring has sprung/ The grass has riz/ I wonder where the birdies is/ The bird is on de wing/ But that's absoid, for surely de wing is on de boid?" To answer that question, Pittsburghers can go where the birds are in abundance, the National Aviary on the North Side. Yesterday, the aviary's newest free-flight space, Grasslands, opened to the public. Part of a multiphase expansion and renovation project, the aviary's Grasslands exhibit allows guests to move down a boardwalk trail to view a natural environment suited to finches, doves and other birds that are at home in grassland habitats. It is good for man and bird alike that the grass has riz, not just in the aviary but outside. For a while back there, Pittsburghers could be forgiven for thinking it would never reappear from under the snow.

THE PITTSBURGH PENGUINS, those flightless hockey birds that bring so much excitement to the region, are losing one from their front office nest: CEO Ken Sawyer, who will retire Aug. 31. Although not as visible as some of the team's stars, Mr. Sawyer has been a mainstay of the team's success. When co-owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle bought the team in 1999, he joined the Penguins as executive vice president and became president in 2003 and CEO in 2006, a period that saw both Stanley Cup success on the ice and construction of the Consol Energy Center. "When you think of Ken Sawyer, you think of stability, of success, of commitment to the community," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. Good luck to Mr. Sawyer in his retirement, but what should we think now? Fans can only hope that team president David Morehouse, in assuming Mr. Sawyer's CEO duties in addition to his own, will be able to keep up that reputation for stability and success.

THE BIRD IS on the wing and so is the North Shore Connector project, the subway link from Downtown that some consider a turkey but we think is worthwhile. A year after staring down a $117.8 million shortfall that threatened a possible shutdown, there's now better news. Port Authority project director Keith Wargo told a board committee Wednesday that another $10 million has been cut from the project, mostly through management efficiencies. The estimated cost has now fallen by $24 million since May, in part because -- wonder of wonders! -- of lower-than-expected construction bids. The Port Authority now finds itself in the happy position of having the money to cover all anticipated construction costs of the $528.8 million project, now 70 percent complete, barring unexpected developments. More doggerel is in order: Spring has sprung, the grass has riz, we wonder where the critics is.