Book of Days

This morning all thought of “school” left our heads as Josh and I headed out to Calico Basin/Red Springs. Josh had read online that a Hooded Warbler had been spotted in the picnic area and as this is a very rare bird for here and one he does not have yet on his life list, he was anxious to see it. We had not been there but a few minutes when I nudged Josh and pointed …all I saw was a bird lol but the smile on his face gave the answer of exactly what bird I had spotted… THE Hooded Warbler! There in front of us was one of the most beautiful birds I have seen. The vibrant yellow against the deep black was spectacular. The bird flew around but stayed in the same area for the hour and a half that we birded. We also got some nice views of the golden-crowned warbler that has been seen here on and off for the last year or so. This is also another bird that generally is not in our area.

As I waited to pick up my older son I came across this poem of Wendell Berry that spoke to my heart about the experience we were blessed to have with such a  special bird:

The Yellow-Throated Warbler 

From SABBATHS 2003

VI
(for Jonathan Williams)

The yellow-throated warbler, the highest remotest voice
of this place, sings in the top of the tallest sycamores,
but one day he came twice to the railing of my porch
where I sat at work above the river. He was too close
to see with binoculars. Only the naked eye could take him in,
a bird more beautiful than every picture of himself,
more beautiful than himself killed and preserved
by the most skilled taxidermist, more beautiful
than any human mind, so small and inexact,
could hope ever to remember. My mind became
beautiful by the sight of him. He had the beauty only
of himself in the only moment of his life.
He had upon him like a light the whole
beauty of the living world that never dies.