On Sunday evening (August 15), the catbirds welcomed me home with their cacophonic calls (listen to their song here), Monday morning as well. I heard their song, their scratchy utterances and smiled because catbirds may be my favorite bird of all and since they don’t winter here, I probably appreciate them more.
I became lost in the “feeling bads” last week and wasn’t being mindful as I might typically have been.
On Thursday, I noticed the silence. Well, not complete silence. There were cicadas, cardinals, finches, and later crickets but the song of the catbird was gone. In a blink, without a “see you next year,” my little flock of gray happiness flew south to winter in warmer temperatures, leaving me with no doubt that while the calendar said a month of summer still lingered, autumn was around the corner.
The mornings and evenings are not quite the same. So long, catbirds, until next year.
Love the metaphor for change. Hope you feel brighter soon ❤️
Thank you. I am feeling brighter today. Always look on the bright side…of life. 🙂
I don’t know much about catbirds except that they’re here as well (when they are). One thing I appreciate is the presence of cardinals in the winter. Comforting to have and know there’s bird-company year-round.
I feel a little bit like the parent who says they favor one child a bit more. 😀 I love all the birds and find them fascinating to watch. And when I first put out a feeder and the cardinal pair became loyal visitors, I was ever so chuffed. 🐦
Seasonal affective disorder? The perils of northern living seem to be very marked compared to the more gentle southern hemisphere changes.
This is true. Although, sincerely, I can’t complain. It gets very (quite?) cold here in the winter, but we have a lot of sunshine, which I very much appreciated after spending ten days in an English winter years ago where sunshine was not bright and vibrant.
Do your birds even migrate? I guess they have no reason to.