By Katherine Schneider, for the CVPost
Loud Birds
Several people have commented that they thought birds were singing really loud this spring.
My guess is we’re hearing them more because there’s less traffic noise and we’re walking more—an unexpected benefit of the coronavirus pandemic.
My friends know I love crows and their intelligence and resilience. My interest has expanded to what’s happening in the eagle nest on my friend’s property near Menomonie. At least one chick has been spotted this year!
In addition to my morning cup of coffee, I look forward to getting up for the “Bird Note” podcast each morning with the sound of a particular bird and some facts about them (see www.birdnote.org).
Did you know that cardinals can have both genders in one bird; e.g., one side red and the other brown?
A friend of a friend who is a poet living in Arizona, but who grew up in Wisconsin, gave me permission to post this poem she wrote recently. It gives me hope.
Champion of Spring, by Connie Johnson
this morning you wear
the tailored rust vest with charcoal underneath
your straw-thin legs topped with white cuffs
milky eyeliner encircles dark eyes
you take four steps, tilt your head
as if to eavesdrop on blades of grass
reaching down you retrieve a morsel
before three more steps
your legs straining, leaning backward, pulling
just barely enough ballast
to extract a length of worm
downing half, then the remainder
you are on your way
heralding spring
a few steps at a time
To read previous instalments of “The Corona Chronicles,” click here.
The home page image is a representation of a coronavirus cell.