I’m sitting on the porch with my second cup of coffee, logged into the Merlin App from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The app is listening for birds and identifying them.
We feed the birds all year round and see so many of them coming to the backyard. But (goodness!) there are SO MANY birds we cannot see.
Every morning, the first bird that the app usually hears is the cardinal. Its chirp-chirp-chirp cuts through the neighborhood noises, a constant background.
The Bird Cast dashboard tells me that we are at the peak of migration season. Almost 9,000,000 birds flew over my county last night on their way to the South. They flew south at an average altitude of 1,900 ft, a speed of 32 mph.
What a wonder! Millions of birds take the perilous journey, flying at night! And they migrate two times a year. South, and then North. South, and then North.
This morning, the app has recorded the call of two migratory visitors: the Golden Crown Kinglet and the Yellow-rumped Warbler. Along with all the usuals ... White-breasted Nuthatch, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Blue Jay, Downy Woodpecker, Carolina Chickadee, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. And even a single Great Blue Heron flying over the neighborhood towards its next hunting ground. As I walk through the day I'll think of all the travelers getting a rest here in Tennessee before taking off for tonight's southern journey.
Today, I walk in the cathedral of birds. Surrounded by, in gratitude for, and in wonder of all the birds, I cannot see.
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