7 November 2026

Archive for the ‘Poem’ Category

State Bird

Monday, December 4th, 2017
Black-capped Chickadee with spruce cone, Beech Hill Preserve, Rockport, Maine, 04 December 2017.

Black-capped Chickadee (excavating spruce cone).

A favorite bird is the chickadee.
Favorite for lots of reasons.
Hardy little critter, sociable,
chatty, resourceful—
a leader of other birds.
Playful.
Given the right conditions,

will perch on your finger
to show you just how light
a bird’s weight is.
This frosty morning,
I watched three chickadees
excavating spruce cones in a grove
at the top of a hill.

Beech Hill List
Beginning at 8:45 a.m., I hiked the open trail.

1. White-breasted Nuthatch (v)
2. American Crow*
3. American Goldfinch** (v)
4. Black-capped Chickadee
5. Eastern Bluebird (v)

Elsewhere

6. Pileated Woodpecker (v)
7. Herring Gull
8. European Starling
9. Canada Goose (v)

v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere

 

Holiday Ornament

Thursday, November 23rd, 2017
European Starling, Rockport, Maine, 23 November 2017.

European Starling.

I hiked the hill
as I do every morning
with my good dog Jack
on this Thanksgiving day
and socialized with
other holiday hikers
but got no photo of any bird
so at home later
when I stepped out and heard
the tumbling voices of starlings
I turned my camera
across the road and
took a picture
of a holiday ornament

Beech Hill List
Beginning at 8:30 a.m., I hiked the open trail.

1. Black-capped Chickadee** (v)
2. American Goldfinch** (v)
3. American Crow*
4. White-breasted Nuthatch (v)
5. Northern Flicker (v)
6. Snow Bunting (v)
7. Blue Jay** (v)
8. Downy Woodpecker (v)

Elsewhere

9. Mallard
10. Herring Gull
11. European Starling
12. Tufted Titmouse (v)

v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere

 

Before the Rain

Thursday, November 16th, 2017
American Crow, Beech Hill Preserve, Rockport, Maine, 16 November 2017.

American Crow.

Before the rain
I searched for birds
while all around me people
passed into view
then moved away
young people
and older people
familiar friends
and strangers
much like the birds
I searched for
before the rain

Beech Hill List
Beginning at 8:45 a.m., I hiked the open trail.

1. Blue Jay** (v)
2. Black-capped Chickadee**
3. White-breasted Nuthatch
4. Downy Woodpecker
5. Golden-crowned Kinglet (v)
6. American Crow*
7. American Goldfinch (v)

Elsewhere

8. European Starling
9. Herring Gull
10. Northern Cardinal (v)

v = Voice only
*Also elsewhere
**Voice only elsewhere

 

 
Bird Report is a (sometimes intermittent) record of the birds I encounter while hiking, see while driving, or spy outside my window. —Brian Willson



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