Trips

Bird Doggerel

April 15, 2007 by Corey 7 Comments

Why not put a birding adventure into verse? And at the end of this doggerel look for a link to Will’s new blog (I’d put it here but then you wouldn’t read the poem).

What an odd April without warmth of spring,
I miss the sun and the birds that do sing.
It’s so true that April is the cruelest month.
There is no word that rhymes with month.

So on Saturday I met the Raups, Will and Danika,
Because migrant warblers we’d decided to seek-a
No luck with warblers in this wintry spring
But juncos and tree sparrows, they do ling-

Er on, which is better than nothing.
As Will said, “We should be eating stuffing!
And turkey. It feels like it’s late autumn.”
And then I fell upon my bottom.

“Ha-ha, he fell on his butt!” you say,
“Bet that’s the funniest thing that happened today.”
Danika laughed when I fell, it is true,
I laughed too, what else could I do?

But far ahead of where we were I am getting
Like exchanging rings a week before a wedding.
We met in the Five Rivers parking lot
After parking in adjacent parking spots.

At Beaver Pond where we started our wander
We observed arguing pairs of goose and gander.
My name might not be Emily Dickinson
But I can make near-rhymes lots of fun!

From a grove of pine we heard a three-part, high-pitched sound
Which we logically deduced were kinglets, Golden-crowned.
Once they stayed still for us to focus upon
We saw our deduction was exactly spot-on.

From there on we continued on our walk
And amongst us we began to talk.
Of this late-arriving, cursed spring
And what was that bird there, no there, on the wing?

We saw chickadees, juncos, a feral cat,
Song Sparrows, chipmunks and not just that!
We saw our first Field Sparrow of this year too,
And cuz one wasn’t enough, we saw two

Or three, I really don’t remember.
My brain’s affected by this cold from November.
I know, I know that’s a poor excuse
But I really have been feeling quite obtuse.

Nevermind, we watched blue birds too
And not just Bluebirds, but Blue Jays, yeah, we saw a few.
And a lonely Tree Swallow perched on high
Whose plight right now makes me want to cry.

On our walk we saw on nests four
Canada Geese whose goslings I adore.
It was when Will walked too close to a nest
That I landed on my cheeks (no, not my best

Moment in terms of my dignity).
I sacrificed them for photography.
I wanted a shot of the goose menacing Will
But the darn goose would not stay still!

So I moved to my left with my eye in my lens
And didn’t realize the land was to end
Until my left foot met nothing but water
And I was forced to sacrifice my butt in order

To save my camera. How smart am I?
Well maybe not so smart as my foot was not dry
And my butt hurt a lot after it met the ground.
For a moment though, there was no sound

Except for the laughter of that meanie, Danika
Who was fated shortly to lose her sneak-a.
She stepped in some mud that was sticky and brown
And pulled her sock-clad foot free from the ground

Where her shoe was now stuck.
Danika, not happy, yelled out, “Shucks”
Or was it something else that rhymes with duck?
Oh, I remember now, she said “Just my luck.”

Noble Will, concerned, rushed to her aid
And we looked at the sneaker, Danika dismayed.
And I laughed and I giggled, once I saw no real harm-a,
At the wondrous workings of this thing called karma.

From there to the feeders with wet feet we went
The cold and the wind having made us quite spent.
Five sparrow varieties and woodpeckers ate
Sunflower seeds and suet that’s great!

We sat and we watched the birds from inside
Where I’ll stay from now on…no, I just lied.
I’m like the post office, no matter the weather
I’ll be out seeking the birds with the feathers.

So if this nor’easter blows in a big snow
I’ll have my boots ready to go.

And you can find Will’s brand new blog, SPQR, here. Will went to school and studied the Classics, which is probably one of the few things that can be studied that is as unlikely to make you money as my English degree. So if you want to read a blog that juxtaposes posts on ancient Greeks and Romans with posts on birds or video game systems click on over. Now. Here’s the link again.

Written by Corey
Corey is a New Yorker who lived most of his life in upstate New York but has lived in Queens since 2008. He's only been birding since 2005 but has garnered a respectable life list by birding whenever he wasn't working as a union representative or spending time with his family. He lives in Forest Hills with Daisy and Desmond Shearwater. His bird photographs have appeared on the Today Show, in Birding, Living Bird Magazine, Bird Watcher's Digest, and many other fine publications. He is also the author of the American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of New York.