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WORDS ON BIRDS
Retirement Provides Freedom to Watch Birds
April 26, 2008
Steve Grinley
First, a reminder that hummingbirds and orioles are on
our doorstep. It is time to put out your nectar feeders, as well as
the oranges and grape jelly for the orioles. Hummingbirds and orioles
have been seen around Boston this past week, and a few slipped by us
into New Hampshire. Local reports should be coming in soon.
On a different note, I envy the folks that can spend
each day, every day, watching these and all the other beautiful birds
that pass our way. Friend and fellow birder, Doug Chickering of
Groveland recently retired and became one of those people. I would
like to share his tale of "freedom" with you, as only Doug can tell
it:
"It seems so long ago. Yet it was only last week that I
was still following the mad ritual of going to work. It was only a
handful of days ago that I was spending my days in a large windowless,
loud machine shop, chatting, and laughing and breaking bread with the
same people - more or less - who I had been spending most of my days
with for the last thirteen years. They were my associates, my
colleagues and my friends. And yet there was always something that
separated us. Our work, our experience and our thoughts were bent upon
the same goal and there was general level of understanding that made
for genuine camaraderie.
"We were close but not close - had so much in common
but so little in common. When I started to talk about birds and the
passion of birding, a silent barrier crept in between us. They would
smile, inquire tolerantly and even show some interest. Yet they
regarded this as an eccentricity and I was now a stranger; probably
harmless, but peculiar, and perhaps a little crazy. I reveled in it.
"Now that has all changed, and now I can get on with
what is important. This morning, as the sun was rising, I was on Plum
Island; as I was yesterday morning, and as I will be countless
mornings in front of me. Lois and I drove upon the refuge in the chill
of the early morning just as the birds were becoming active and
anticipating the string of small adventures and discoveries that we
knew lay ahead. We were not disappointed.
"There is something special about birding in the chill
of April; before the crescendo of the waves of migration come.
Something stirring, something quiet; serene. The winter is over. The
sun warms the day and the last birds of the long winter mingle with
the first edge of the migration. There were a lot of birds, but not a
large variety.
"Down the length of the road from the gate to Stage
Island we encountered Flickers in ones and twos; mostly heading north,
but with a cluster of about ten in the fields by the Old Pines. Also
we found numerous Song Sparrows and Junco's and Robins, flying up from
the roadside, or scattered across the fields. There were Ruby-crowned
and Golden-crowned Kinglets in even numbers at Hellcat; and Hermit
Thrushes everywhere. I am amused and fascinated by the way the Hermit
Thrushes leap from hiding, dart a few feet into the thickets and find
a prominent branch to stop motionless to regard you with wide and
innocent eyes. A peculiar mixture of boldness and timidity.
"Yesterday I had great looks at a Pine Warbler, that
dropped down from a tree to forage almost literally at my feet;
brightly colored and seemingly fearless. Today, Lois and I heard and
saw our first Towhee, and at the Wardens we witnessed a brutal no
holds bared barroom brawl between two Mockingbirds. Wings flailing and
talons grasping they grappled and rolled in the dirt while a third
Mocker looked on. Usually it seems as if an aggressive avian encounter
quickly turns into a chase; but not this one. I do not know what the
quarrel was about but they were both serious about it.
"My new life has arrived, my old life vanished, almost
without a trace - and it seems so long ago."
Enjoy your new life, Doug! Steve Grinley
Bird Watcher's Supply & Gift and Nature Shop at Joppa Flats
Newburyport, MA
BirdWSG@Verizon.net
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