A Glorious Day

388 – (339/782) A Glorious Day

7 May 2026

It was admittedly a bit nippy this morning – but the temperatures overnight hadn’t dropped to anywhere near a freeze, or even a frost. It was just cool enough to make me draw my breath in suddenly in a bit of surprise as I stepped onto the porch.

As the sun rose, it was hard to miss the relentless exuberance of nature. We’ve entered that time of year when there are probably a thousand different shades of green everywhere you look, and pops of color that are pockets of joyful distraction in their beauty.

I’m afraid the birds at our feeders are feeling a bit neglected. I’ve been keeping them fed – believe me – but I think they can sense that I haven’t been writing about them as much. I’m pretty sure they can feel that enormous exchange of energy.

Yesterday afternoon while I was walking with our grandson, I called his attention to the voice of a catbird that was making a lot of sharp, conspicuous calls. We couldn’t see it as it hid in the newly blooming leaves of a variety of bushes and young trees. It made me realize how valuable it is to recognize a bird by its voice alone. I’m not all that good at it, but maybe we can both improve as we make use of the Merlin Bird ID app as we walk.

Such a beautiful catbird.

In another ‘first’ for the season, I heard the “Drink your tea” song of the Eastern Towhee a couple of times as we walked. I couldn’t actually find the bird amidst the undergrowth to point it out. Hopefully though, I’ll get lots more chances to point it over the coming weeks and months.

We did catch sight of three pretty substantially girthed turkey hens!

And then late this afternoon, as I was sitting on the porch resting a tad after mowing some lawn ‘in the back 40,’ a catbird landed right in front of me. What a hambone. It preened and showed me all his good angles. I also think it taunted me and said it’d keep hiding from us when we walk.

Toward the end of our walk, my grandson and I also encountered three turkey hens foraging for food in one of the open fields. They sure are big birds!

Wanishi Aho for this glorious day (and yesterday!) and the creatures with whom we shared it.