Going out birding suggests you’re going out to SEE birds, but this time of year, sometimes you go out to HEAR birds, even when you can’t see them. That has certainly been the case lately. On a Thursday walk, Cornell University’s Merlin app identified nine different birds in one place in less than two minutes, a virtual symphony, and I couldn’t see a single one of them. That really didn’t matter, though, because their songs lifted my spirits.
Luckily, a few birds seem to go out of their way to make themselves visible when they are calling, like this Red-winged Blackbird
and this Marsh Wren.
At least knowing that a bird is nearby gives you a chance to look for them in likely places, and sometimes in unlikely places like where I found that Eurasian Collared-Dove after hearing it much earlier.
I’ll have to admit I’m occasionally frustrated when I can’t see a bird I can clearly hear and identify, but just knowing we are here together is still reassuring.