by Paul Danese
Ah, Henry, I’ll wager that you, scribbling notes in your cabin by the pond, never worried about the difficulty scientists might have reading your atrocious handwriting some 150 years later. How could you have known they’d unearth those notebooks, use your records of 1850’s bloom time to compare with ours today? To sound the alarm about Walden warming? But were you alive today and ambling about your pond, I’d wager you’d notice what’s already a little off: blueberries and trillium in flower and maples aleaf more than two weeks early. You’d know that means earlier caterpillars, which means decreased food for the birds who can’t resynch their calendars and migrate north while food is still being served, which means, among other things, that veery’s song you loved to listen to (vee-ur, veer) might grow increasingly rare.
~ Barbara Hurd
(Listening to the Savage: River Notes & Half-Heard Melodies)
Early in May, the oaks, hickories, maples, and other trees, just putting out amidst the pine woods around the pond, imparted a brightness like sunshine to the landscape, especially in cloudy days, as if the sun were breaking through mists and shining faintly on the hillsides here and there. On the third or fourth of May I saw a loon in the pond, and during the first week of the month I heard the whip-poor-will, the brown thrasher, the veery, the wood pewee, the chewink, and other birds.
~ Henry David Thoreau
(Walden)
This seems like a bird whose name I should’ve known. It looks like something I’ve probably seen, so I went to the Merlin app to here its song, and it definitely sounds familiar. Strange that in all these years of paying attention to birds, I’ve never been aware of this one. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!
The call does sound familiar, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen one. In pictures they look much like a hermit thrushes to me and sometimes I wonder if I’ve mistaken one for the other. All About Birds website says, “One place Veeries breed is in damp areas near beaver wetlands. As beavers make a comeback from extensive hunting, these wetlands are on the increase—possibly good news for Veery populations.”
I heard my first ovenbird just this morning, so the veery can’t be far behind. I’ve read that the temperature dependent migrants are fairing better than the celestial ones. One wonders how this all will play out.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen an ovenbird before, although I’ve heard them according to the Merlin Bird ID. That makes sense that adjusting to temperature changes would work better than navigating the dependable stars for migrants. It’s sobering to think how much we’re interfering with evolution…
I liked both of these passages Barbara and if I close my eyes, I can hear this bird’s sweet song! I have never seen or heard of a Veery, so I’m happy to make its acquaintance here.
I’m always amazed by how many songbirds there are that I’ve never seen or heard, even just in North America. And then the ones from the rest of the world… I can see why serious birders travel so extensively to add to their life lists.
It is amazing Barbara. A fellow blogger and her husband spend the Winter months traveling in their RV. They just spent some time in Louisiana and some of the birds there are so unique. A Tri-colored Heron, very beautiful, Whistling Ducks. I’ve never seen or heard of any of these beautiful birds she is photographing.
Makes me wish I had done more birding back when I was healthy enough to travel to find more of them! Oh well, it is what it is. At least people are willing to share their beautiful pictures and we can enjoy their trips vicariously. 🙂
Back when I was traveling I don’t even think birds were part of the travels. It is good we can see other’s pictures and experiences and enjoy them vicariously – I agree. I follow Anderson Cooper 360 on Facebook and he had a recent piece from “60 Minutes” about a recent trip to Columbia where he spent time with a bird photographer and he said he had never been a birder, but was fascinated after spending time with the photographer and using his high-power binoculars to see tiny birds in the trees. (I think they were hummingbirds by their beaks.)
I’ve never heard of a veery. Thanks for introducing me to this one! I’m intrigued by its cinnamon color.
You’re welcome, Debbie! I had never heard of the chewink Thoreau also mentioned and then found out it was another name for an eastern towhee.
The quote about Thoreau’s atrocious handwriting reminded me of how cursive writing has largely become archaic. I recently was taking with a graphic designer who told me that she even advices clients to avoid the use of script-style fonts because many people struggle to read them.
That’s a very interesting development. That probably means calligraphy is or will soon be a dying art, too. I remember being surprised to learn that they don’t teach cursive writing in school anymore. I do miss the days of getting hand-written letters from my grandparents.
I still send weekly postcards to my grandchildren – though I print them. I think that they like getting them, though it seems like even postcards are going out of style. It’s getting harder to find them, and when I do, the selection is often very limited.
What a great idea! I wish I had done something like that when my grandchildren lived so far away, but now they’re right up the road and I see them all the time. I have a big postcard collection. Whenever someone goes on a trip I ask them to send me one. But you’re right – they are getting harder to find.