A warbling we go! Here by Stanley Park I am surrounded by blossoms…all the shades and varieties of cherries, magnolias, and the early purple azaleas. This year, for some reason, I’m really getting the fragrance of the blossoms more than usual. Even if they are lying on the ground. But the best experience is standing under an old cherry tree with a great canopy of blossoms overhead and standing or sitting or simply *being* – and simply breathing it in – heaven on earth? And birdsong fills the air! I find myself running out to the balcony, zoom recorder in hand, trying to capture the fleeting notes.

There was a sudden bash against my window – alas a little bird had flown into it… putting my hands around it, I gave it a little qi treatment. I thought it was a goner, but amazingly twenty minutes later it flew away!

According to the Stokes Guide to Birds, the orange crowned warbler is “very drab” and the Peterson Field Guide Series is equally unimpressed talking about its “lack of wing bars” and saying its song is a “weak colourless trill, dropping in energy at the end.” I wonder if we’re talking about the same bird! Bill and I have been talking about notating bird song and I’ll let you know how that goes! My ever resourceful scribe, Mike, has brought the following to my attention. Dear readers, how about you give these a try and let me know how they sound! oh…there’s a cow in there too 🙂

I will leave you with one last thought on birds from one of my favourite musical works (can you guess which one?):

One day, Peter goes out into the clearing, leaving the garden gate open, and the duck that lives in the yard takes the opportunity to go swimming in a pond nearby. The duck starts arguing with a little bird.

The bird says, “what kind of bird are you if you can’t fly?”

To which the duck replies, “what kind of bird are you if you can’t swim?”

Click here to have a listen!