May 11: Song Sparrow

realizing I’m within

his territory

sparrow’s song

March 13: Saguaro NP

cactus forest

following songs of sparrows

losing myself

July 12: Sparrow

heard over the lawnmower--

sparrow's repeated song

such a hopeful sound

October 8: Leaves are starting to turn

End of the season--
chestnuts on the tin barn roof,
sparrows at field's edge.

October 7: In the feeder

Pert fledgling sparrow

has no idea

what it's in for this winter.

Posted with Blogsy

May 12: In the mist

A scene from "Wuthering Heights"--

misty barrens,

unseen sparrow singing.

Posted with Blogsy

October 19: Winter is coming

Walking through Camden's Harbor Park and Amphitheatre this afternoon, the signs of coming cold were gathering with the fallen leaves.

Frost warning--

schooners wrapped in plastic,

flocks of south-bound sparrows.

Posted with Blogsy

October 13: Autumn day trip

A day of sparrows
in fields going to seed
leaves red and falling

October 6: Edginess

At the field's edge--
restless sparrows rustling
in the dying asters.

July 27 (2): Sunday afternoon

Curled up on the couch next to the cat, reading poetry while the cat eyes a sparrow out the window...

Rainy Sunday--
jazz on the stereo,
sparrow also singing.

May 25: Rare bird

This morning a Brewer's Sparrow flew in to the island. This bird breeds in the west, nowhere near here, and has never been recorded in Maine--it's only been seen seven times in the entire Northeast. We got good long looks at it down by the Ice Pond, along with many other birders securing photographic evidence.

 

Errant sparrow

calmly eats dandelion seeds

as the cameras whirr.

Posted with Blogsy

February 23: Birdsong

Melting snow and ice.

My spirits lift to hear

a sparrow singing.

Posted with Blogsy

October 16: Rustle

Something rustles
in the leaves. Mist on the river
turns to rain.

October 10: Zugunruhe

Gotta love those German compound nouns: Zug (move, migration) + Unruhe (restlessness, anxiety) = the urge to migrate, used most often in reference to birds.

Sparrows in the fields.
Just made my reservations
for this weekend's trip.

July 25: Cacophony

Right now I can hear out my window, all at the same time, and loud:
2 cawing crows, one of them whiny, probably a younger bird
1 Blue Jay
1 Red-eyed Vireo, non-stop all day
1 Song Sparrow
1 cardinal

Beats the lawnmower,
this birdsong circus under
treetops' lush green tent.

July 1: Summer marsh

This morning I visited Scarborough Marsh with my bird guide friend Derek in hopes of seeing a couple of unusual birds that have been reported there recently: Black-necked Stilt and Seaside Sparrow, both of which breed south of Maine. IF&W biologists were out in the marsh with mist nets carrying out some sort of bird research--as luck would have it, right where the stilt has been hanging out, so we had no hope of seeing that bird, but we watched and waited for the sparrow.

As we stood on Eastern Road, all around us many Nelson's Sparrows sang their odd song, a drawn-out spshhh that sounds just like water dropped into a hot frying pan--appropriate for a humid morning. Blackbirds tooted in the reeds. Sun began to disperse the fog lingering over Pine Point, and darker clouds portending afternoon rain rolled in from the west. Here and there white egrets feed silently in the pannes, while Willets startled up from their nests, flashing the white crescents on their wings. Along the edge of the trail, wild roses perfumed the salty air. A Glossy Ibis flew overhead.

Our patience paid off. Derek eventually spotted a Seaside Sparrow singing not too far off in the marsh. I picked up on the song and eventually got some very good looks at this life bird. Not a bad start to my morning. Then I had to rush north to get in a half day's work.

Anxious Willets flush
from marshy pockets, crying.
That kind of morning.

June 23: Sunday morning

I lie in bed late
soothed by passing rainstorm,
lone singing sparrow.

June 1: Nest

Helped lead a walk today as part of the Acadia Birding Festival on Mount Desert Island, on the Wonderland Trail in Acadia National Park. The short trail passes through stunted boreal spruce and jack pine forest to emerge on the granite shores of the sea. As we scanned the waves, one participant looked down instead... and found the nest of a Song Sparrow tucked in a rose bush, neatly cupping four mottled blue eggs.

Vastness that is sea
alongside these small blue eggs,
singing sparrow.

April 24: Lifting rain, birdsong

Rain stopped and the sky began to clear just before sunset. One last tendril of mist floated above Rockport village. When we got home, a Ruby-crowned Kinglet was singing in the yard, its sweet, burbling little song much louder than one might expect from such a tiny bird. On a short walk before dinner we heard other birds singing: cardinal, titmouse, Song and White-throated Sparrows.

Buds on the azalea,
birdsong before dark.
My head grows clearer.

April 15: Horror

Following the news of the bomb blasts at the Boston Marathon, reading stories of indescribable horror. Why does it always shock us to learn, over and over again, that such evil exists in the world?

I've been frantically looking around for things to offer comfort--the season's first local Osprey, birdsong outside my office, learning that a poet whose work first inspired me to write poetry as a teenager (Sharon Olds) has won the Pulitzer Prize, praise from a Board member for work well done. But these are small things compared to people's lives.

Soaring Osprey, returned,
and singing sparrows--
sometimes this isn't enough.