Naturally

I find awe in a gray catbird’s company. It joins me before breakfast each morning, jazz singing outside my bedroom window. Copycat catbirds actively sing before sunrise and after sunset. They mimic other birds but add their own interpretation to the sounds. Their songs are long but would be even longer if they played guitars. Catbirds are friendly birds that visit feeders to eat grape jelly, suet, sunflower hearts and raisins. I don’t need a field guide to identify a catbird. I have a feel guide to help me enjoy my sidekick.

Birdsfoot trefoil blooms on roadsides. It’s a legume identified by its low-growing, yellow pea-shaped flowers and seed pods resembling a bird’s foot.

A squirrel started running across the street. There was no traffic behind me, so I slowed my car. The squirrel froze in place in the middle of the road. Then it made a U-turn and headed back to whence it had come. Then, it made another U-turn and started running across the street again. It stopped briefly, just short of where it had been earlier, faked a continuance of the run before reversing its course and running back to where it had started its journey that had ended abruptly, and sniffed the ground under a tree. This is probably where politicians learned their flip-flopping antics.

That’s a bird in the tree I saw. It was a red-eyed vireo singing, “Look at me…Way up high…Over here…In a tree…Here I am…In a tree…Where are you? Can’t see me.” It sounds as if the bird is counting the leaves on the tree. In 1948, Music Digest estimated that Bing Crosby's recordings filled more than half of the weekly hours allocated to recorded radio music in America. The red-eyed vireo is trying to match that. Its marathon singing has earned it the nickname of the “preacher bird.”

Skippers look like something between butterflies and moths. They are small butterflies that visit flowers during the day. When perched, a skipper evokes the shape of a fighter jet.

The neighbors’ rooster crowed. In many traditions, the crowing of a rooster at dawn signifies victory over darkness and the triumph of light. In some cultures, it's believed evil spirits flee at its sound.

Vincent van Gogh traveled to the Netherlands, England, Belgium and France. I can’t prove it, but I think he traveled because he wanted to hear a meadowlark. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology didn’t yet exist, so Van Gogh didn’t know he needed to venture to the Americas to hear one. Being unable to listen to a meadowlark hit him hard. His ear had to go.

Father's Day

On a day long ago, in a land not far away, the sky was as black as blue and as blue as black. Then, a beautiful day shouldered its way in. I stood beside my father’s grave on what some might call a windswept prairie, regretting those things I had left unsaid, and my questions that went unasked. I thought there’d be more time. Then, I heard a western meadowlark call from a pastureland near the cemetery. It brought precious memories of my wonderful father, the farmer, and of our many talks. I know the bird was proclaiming territory, but sometimes, a bird sings when I need to hear it.

Q&A

“What is a group of dragonflies called? A flight, swarm, cluster or wing.

“What do skunks have that no other animal has?” Baby skunks.

A woman who joined me on a boat tour I led asked why there were more cliff swallow nests on the west side of the highway bridge over a lake than on the east side. When highway construction replaced old wooden trestle bridges with new concrete bridges and overpasses, cliff swallows abandoned nesting on loose, crumbly cliffs of sandstone or limestone in favor of firm concrete structures that offered overhangs sheltering the birds from the elements. Their densely packed nests extend over lengthy sections of buildings, dams, culverts and bridges. Ectoparasites (swallow bugs and ticks) in their nests sometimes cause colonies to abandon their nests and move elsewhere. Cliff swallows require a nearby source of freshwater to construct their gourd-shaped nests, each made of 900–1,200 individual mud pellets collected in their bills. I suspect cliff swallows might build more nests on the west side of a bridge than on the east side due to the direction of the sun's path and the resulting temperature differences. The west side of a bridge receives more direct sunlight later in the day, which can lead to warmer temperatures overnight. The warmer temperature could benefit the nestlings by regulating their body temperature and potentially provide a more comfortable environment. Baby birds are more vulnerable to cold than heat, especially when they lack feathers.

“How many lakes are there in Alaska?” According to the State of Alaska, it has over 3 million lakes (3,197 are named). The largest, Lake Iliamna, encompasses over 1,000 square miles. Alaska has over 3,000 rivers, about 100,000 glaciers, lots of earthquakes and numerous active volcanoes.

Thanks for stopping by

“He who praises another enriches himself far more than he does the one praised. To praise is an investment in happiness. The poorest human being has something to give that the richest could not buy.”—George M. Adams.

“Nature tops the list of potent tranquilizers and stress reducers. The mere sound of moving water has been shown to lower blood pressure.”—Patch Adams.

Do good.

The Canada anemone is my favorite flower. It makes me happy when I see one. Don’t other flowers do that, too? They do. I have many flowers that are my favorite flower. A Canada anemone is confident, hardy and lovely. It caters to small, native bees. Deer don’t relish this native perennial. Photo by Al Batt.