The Joyful Sights and Sounds of Spring!

The 1st of April!

Sir Redfield Opulent Epaulette

The days 'fore April flew by and the Corgyncombe Courant neglected to report to our readers that a couple of weeks ago hailed the return of the Red-Winged Blackbird to Corgyncombe after their long journey!
Such a joyful, cheerful sound of Spring!

"The blackbirds make the maples ring

With social cheer and jubilee;

The redwing flutes his o-ka-lee"

- Ralph Waldo Emerson


Snowdrops
The background colours remind us of snowdrops at sunrise.


The four photographs above are different views of a Corgyncombe sunrise all taken the same morning looking in different directions.

The Red-wing calling at early morn.


The above photograph was taken a few years ago.


"Bird Songs, 250 North American Birds in Song" by Les Beletsky, "Featuring Audio from The Cornell Lab of Ornithology", is a wonderful book that has beautiful illustrations of birds with a button to push to hear the sounds the birds make. The book was added to the Corgyncombe Library several Christmases ago.

The Corgyncombe Library gives "Bird Songs, 250 North American Birds in Song" by Les Beletsky, five stars! This book is great for children!

In grade school one of Diane's teachers loved birds and always fed them in a tree outside the window. Diane always liked to watch the birds instead of concentrating on school work. One of Diane's favorite birds to watch was the Nuthatch. Diane received an award for perfect attendance which was a certificate to be redeemed at the bookstore. The second Diane walked in the bookstore she knew which book she wanted... a big wonderful book about birds. The book included a recording of all the lovely bird songs. The book that Diane was awarded in school reminds her of "Bird Songs, 250 North American Birds in Song".


Sir Redfield Opulent Epaulette points with his beak to the postcard calendar that reads April 1st!

In "A Time to Keep", written and illustrated by Tasha Tudor, pussy willows and red-winged blackbirds surround the March illustrations of a sap house and sugar bush with a family partaking in the annual tradition of gathering sap. In "The Springs of Joy", illustrated by Tasha Tudor, there are some red-winged blackbirds amongst the cattails.

A "Chippy Hackee" was seen under the bird feeder this morn.


Skunk Cabbage near Corgi Creek

In May, the meadow behind the garden and along the creek are abundantly full of almost continuous O-ka-lees.

In "A Year with the Birds" by Wilson Flagg, he writes of the Red-winged Blackbird's song: "These notes seem to spring from a fulness of joy upon returning to their native swamps."


In "Bird-Life" by Frank M. Chapman, he describes the Red-winged Blackbird's song: "The Redwing's liquid kong-quer-ree is pleasantly suggestive of marshy places, but it is his early spring music for which we should chiefly value him."

He also writes: "But when early in March the Redwings come, then we know that the tide of the year has turned. With perennial faith in the season they come in flocks of hundreds, singing their springtime chorus with a spirit that March winds can not subdue."


In the summer, whilst in search of other lovely things, we happened upon a serendipitous find, a Great Blue Heron amongst the reeds. The cover of "Bird-Life" by Frank M. Chapman reminds us of this Blue Heron.


Found tucked in the pages of "Bird-Life", a penny postcard sent to Mr. E. G. Tabor from Frank M. Chapman, the author of "Bird-Life".
"Dear Mr. Tabor: Glad to hear you are using your camera again. You do too good work to be long idle. I shall be delighted to have the pictures for Bird-Lore and when I return in July I will tell Professor B? about the negatives. Yours truly, Frank M. Chapman"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~