A bell-like trill, part II

[vaneramos]

Singing somewhere up there


Today will be my last day alone for a while. I decided to mix housework and pleasure. This afternoon, with self-indulgence in mind, I drove to Wellington County Agreement Forest. On a weekday it would be virtually empty. With sun high in the sky, I would have enough light under the canopy for self-portraiture.

As I stepped out of the car, a chorus of bell-like trills assailed my ears. I stood in a pine plantation....

Pine warblers? Here was a chance to train my ear for the Breeding Bird Survey.

I spent a half hour trudging and peering through binoculars while mosquitoes gathered around. Pine warblers are shy, foraging high in the trees, close to the trunk. If I approached too closely, their songs would move, invisibly as spirits.

Finally I gave up. Traipsing out of the plantation, I gave one backward glance for good measure. Then my eye glimpsed movement. It took a couple tries with the binoculars, but finally I saw his yellow-green face on a high branch: a nondescript bird, but singing that characteristic song that has puzzled me for years.

Last month a friend on my list wondered whether LiveJournal answers prayers. I think it does.





Posted this morning in free_write: Stories about god