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April 24, 2004
in spring...
...more mortal singers than belong
To any one place cover us with song.
Thrush, bluebird, blackbird, sparrow, and robin throng...
~Robert Frost, "Our Singing Strength"
Every morning before work I've been trying to walk along the Charles. First thing in the morning, the birds sing with the most heavenly voices. Once the day begins to move toward noon, the songs taper off and I wish I could see and hear more of those birds...the ones that seem to hide during the day, not the pigeons, the geese, sparrows and starlings.
Today we walked along the Minuteman Trail again and saw both a hairy woodpecker and a little
We also saw a little hawk swooping through the woods, only a few feet above our heads, probably looking for squirrels.
More wild than the wildlife was the man using his above-ground pool in his backyard as an enclosure for the burnpile he had going.
It wasn't really as wild as when we went out last night to Bukowski's with Joe's ex-co-worker, Jess, and when we went to pick her up, we saw that her neighbor had filled in their below-ground pool with dirt (LOTS of dirt) and were going to plant a garden in it. How tacky is that?
Posted by crystallyn at April 24, 2004 01:17 PM
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Comments
I knew that was part of a Frost poem by the first line. I've been working on a Robert Frost/John Holmes (Tufts poet) exhibit at work, and I'm beginning to feel like I could channel Frost.
Yes, there are strange birds all around, and green things poking up everywhere--isn't it wonderful!
Posted by: Sharyl Morris Burson at April 25, 2004 09:16 AM
I got into birding from walks like the ones you describe. Careful, it's a nerdy hobby that sneaks up on you.
The link you included has some good tips for distinguishing the Hairy from the Downy. I've rarely found the size tips very helpful (body nor beak), but the notes about the "comma" and tail are good.
I like your previous walk description, too.
Posted by: john at April 25, 2004 05:18 PM