Nature Note: A Naturalist's Travels Through Nature

Spring is a time for song. First the frogs, then the birds (or sometimes both at once), and eventually the insects. Each morning I've heard a plethora of birdsong, but by far one of my favorites is the Brown-headed Cowbird ( Molothrus ater ). This answer might surprise some bird lovers who think of cowbirds as abhorrent creatures bent on dumping their offspring into the nests of their unsuspecting songbird neighbors. While this is true and to the layperson, this seems like a strange reason to like a bird, it isn't the primary reason. The main reason I like them is for the male's liquid song that tends to begin and end with a chatter. As such, while they try to be classy by having a sweet song, they ultimately give away their "trashy" origins by their brash, nattering calls. The icterid Casanova sings from atop a tree... While delivering his courtship address, the male raises his shoulders and puffs up his back feathers. It can be said though that having s...

Perhaps the loneliest songs are those sung in the woods in a New England summertime are those sung by the Eastern Wood-Pewee ( Contopus virens ). Its double-noted prefix of "pee-a-weee" and its suffix "pee-wo", sung in a drifty, yet uplifting tone. This is one of those summer sounds that permeates the woodland long after more vociferous species such as Northern Cardinals ( Cardinalis cardinalis ) and American Robins ( Turdus migratorius ) have stopped singing for the summer. Many times in the past few weeks, I have been walking with a group of campers, trying to get them to follow along with the general direction of the group and get them to the places they need to be on time, only to grow frustrated by either their almost incessant need to walk as slow as possible or having been so absorbed in their own little world that they unintentionally hinder the group's progress. These are the times when I have felt the greatest stress. However, when I have opportunity t...