Nature Note: A Naturalist's Travels Through Nature

Over the past few weeks, I've been keeping track of new birds arriving on the property where I work and was delighted when the Wood Thrushes ( Hylocichla mustelina ) had returned early this month. As I walked through the woods, along a boardwalk that straddled the wet woods near my accommodations, I heard the rapid "pit-pit" calls of an alarmed bird and looked up to find a male Wood Thrush in full song. As I write this, I wanted to create another basic guide to recognizing similar looking birds after seeing the popularity and success of " On the Wing #69: Swallow, Swift, or Martin? ". After birding in the Sourlands near Hopewell, NJ today and seeing several species of thrushes, I think I've come upon the ideal topic. At this time of year, you are most likely to come across three species of thrush: the ubiquitous American Robin ( Turdus migratorius ), the aforementioned Wood Thrush, and the migrant Swainson's Thrush ( Catharus ustulatus ). The shyer Vee...

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...