[wisb] The Great Stand

  • From: "Wayne & Susie" <wsrohde@xxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Fri, 04 Sep 2009 18:28:32 -0500

From the moment I stepped out of my car, the scene before me was stunning.

Early this morning the air was cool, fall-like.  But I could feel the warmth 
of the rising sun to my back.  And I could see how the leaves of the trees 
glistened in the morning sun, with the deepest of blue skies behind them.

Glistened, but without the slightest movement.

The air was perfectly still.

What I witnessed reminded me of a photograph, with everything frozen in 
time.  The silence was almost deafening.

Until some branches in a thick shrub suddenly moved, making the slightest 
sound.

Raising my bins I saw the cause: a male Mourning Warbler.  Looking for all 
the world like a spring male, with a vibrant black throat.  Seeming to enjoy 
the sun himself momentarily.  Reminding me of warbler fever, four short 
months ago.  And then, just as quickly, he disappeared.  True to form for a 
skulker.

But as I stood in my tracks, a Common Yellowthroat made an appearance, 
followed by a female Black-and-white Warbler.  Soon a Tennessee Warbler flew 
in, followed by an adult male Chestnut-sided Warbler - a blank look to his 
expression, being void of the black facial markings of spring, yet sporting 
the tell-tale chestnut sides and flanks.  (Not a bad fashion statement.)

Other leaves twitched here and there, revealing the flash of white wing bars 
of a Blue-winged Warbler, and the flicking tail of a female American 
Redstart.

No songs of course.  Except for a brief "Witchety-witchety" from the 
Yellowthroat.

And then the parade of fall warblers on the move was broken by a Blue-gray 
Gnatcatcher.  That's when it finally dawned on me that the woods was really 
alive with the vocalizations of many other birds: Downy Woodpeckers, Eastern 
Wood-Pewees, American Robins, Swainson's Thurshes, White-breasted Nuthatches 
... and Black-capped Chickadees which were now buzzing all around me, 
"Chick, chick, chick-a-deeing" for all they were worth.  That's when it also 
dawned on me that from the moment I'd gotten out of my car, I had not moved 
as much as an inch.  I'd been spell-bound, as if my feet were locked in 
concrete.  The warblers, aided by the brilliance of this particular morning, 
had cast their spell on me.

The "great stand" was all I needed.  A 5-10 minute island of tranquility 
before heading off for work.

A great way to start another day.

Wayne Rohde
Walworth, WI 


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  • » [wisb] The Great Stand - Wayne & Susie