Backyard and Beyond

Winter in Green-Wood. A chorus of Blue Jays. Red-bellied Woodpeckers chortling. White-breasted Nuthatches, very Steve Reich. Every tree has one, said a fellow listener, only slightly exaggerating. Much more subtly, the Red-breasted Nuthatches seem to be talking to themselves inside their yews. Guttural Ravens, so emphatic. Canada Geese honking –incoming, duck! Cardinals cheerfully pierce the chill, moving in extended clans. Literally “cheer”-fully. The whispery Juncos and Goldfinches hit higher registers. White-throated Sparrows reveal their under-shrub presence by kicking around in the dried leaves. Much the same with the Fox Sparrows. Those air-hog Mockingbirds have mostly been silent, if ever vigilant, popping out of their bushes to show you they are there and that everything hereabouts belongs to them.

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And now for something more concrete. The stuff is covering the planet.