May 22: Birds in fog

Sorry, I've been slipping up on the haiku-a-day lately. These early mornings birding followed by busy work days don't help my creative energy at day's end. Nor does being on an island with poor Internet connectivity, as I was last weekend and will be this coming weekend. But I'm never gone for long!

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This morning, I led a bird walk at Beech Hill Preserve in Rockport. Yes, it was pouring. Yes, we all got soaked. But there's something so invigorating about hearing thrushsong in the misty distance as we pause on the muddy trail. Or seeing a towhee looming in the fog, its striking black, white, and rufous patterning barely discernable, his song magnified somehow by the moisture in the air.

Blueberry flowers drip rain.
Magnified by fog,
towhee sings loudly.

Eastern Towhee. Photo: Brian Willson.

May 4: Sparrows in the mist

We decided to embark on a staff outing up Beech Hill today, despite what we call 100% humidity: light rain and heavy fog. The barrens were bright with blooming blueberries, sign of hope for this summer's harvest. I even saw some bees among them, undaunted by the wet. Something about the mist seemed to amplify birdsong. Or perhaps, because my vision was limited, my sense of hearing was enhanced, because the "bouncing ball" song of a field sparrow rang out across the fields loud and clear. From various corners, the towhee's "drink your tea" song resonated, as well--from perhaps as many as six or seven individual birds altogether, though the disorienting fog made it a challenge to pinpoint their locations. At the summit, at least one song sparrow and a handful of Savannah sparrows made their presence known, darting in the fog, chancing a song or two. Not much of a view, but the soundscape more than made up for it. 

Field sparrows return

to the field where they hatched, sing

their father's same song.