Mystery solved. Sometimes one needs a little bit of intrigue in one’s life, a little mystery that needs solving. I was pleased that I was finally able to apply my amateur bird identification skills toward solving the mystery of the identity of the “Little Bird with the Big Voice.” As I wrote about on Day 643, I had stalked Little Bird ever since I first heard its sweet, loud song echoing in one of the courtyards at my workplace. After taking a poor picture of it with the camera of my smartphone, I started carrying my good camera with the hopes of catching a good shot of it, which I subsequently did. After that it was just a matter of time before I figured out what it was; and time was exactly what I did not have to give the identification the time it deserved.
Then a few days ago I went to allaboutbirds.org and began searching through pictures and listening to songs and calls. After a few false trails looking at warblers, something told me to move on to wrens and in a matter of moments I had sighted Little Bird. It is a Carolina wren, a beautiful, energetic little bird. I wrote to my sister, who confirmed that I had indeed identified the correct bird–her bird guy corroborated it for me. In life sometimes there are too many questions unanswered, too many unknowns, riddles, mysteries. It is quite satisfying, even with something as small as identifying a bird beginning with its song, to answer at least one question, solve one small mystery.
I am grateful for simple blessings tonight, like identifying little bird a few days ago. I like that I am still intrigued by the world around me and enough of a nature nerd to stop in the middle of what I am doing and snap pictures of an elusive little creature whose song has given me such pleasure in the mornings. Birdsongs have been part of my life since I was a child and learned to identify and imitate the cardinal’s song. I recognize the many varied songs and calls of the robin, a commonplace bird with uncommonly sweet songs. And I gain such pleasure from learning new songs and discovering new feathered friends. Last year it was the dark-eyed junco, this year it’s the Carolina wren. Who knows what’s next?
I watch the changing of the earth around me, the trees and plants continue springing to life as the seasons shift from winter to spring to summer. I am discovering flowering bushes and a flowering tree in my back yard–when I arrived here back in October I had no idea what things would emerge in the spring. Green plants are emerging from bed in the front yard and are resolving themselves into two varieties of hostas and other plants may yet spring up from that spot. And from the hole in the tree in the front yard two young squirrels have begun to peek out from the nest that I watched an adult squirrel so carefully pad with fresh leaves back in February. Again I find I am grateful for having such a good camera and such rich entertainment all around me–simple blessings that bring such pleasure.
Siblings?
I am a self-proclaimed bird nerd and nature nut, and find that I like that about myself. There once was a time when I wouldn’t say aloud that I liked anything about myself–I didn’t want to sound conceited or stuck on myself. But I’ve come to realize that it’s not only alright to like or even love things about oneself, it’s important to do so. So I’ll keep exploring the wilds of my workplace and the wonders of my backyard until I find myself with more exotic locales to explore. And I’ll hope to find a few more mysteries along the way. It’s all good.
