Bobolink

Perching along the levee

/ Rebecca / 15 Comments

In May, the sounds of a variety of birds hidden in the tall, dense grass along the Mississippi levee fill the air.  Seemingly out of nowhere, a bird will flutter through the air and alight on top of a tall weed stalk.  It is interesting to slowly ride along the levee road, occasionally stopping to watch in silence, to see what different types of birds can be spotted.

male Bobolink

male Indigo bunting

male Dickcissel

immature male Orchard Oriole

Eastern Kingbird

male and female Red-winged blackbirds

“In order to see birds it is necessary to become part of the silence.”  ~Robert Lynd

Bobolink

/ Rebecca / 4 Comments

We spotted a small flock of Bobolink on the levy near the Mississippi River.  The males were dressed in their attractive spring plumage.  After breeding season, they will molt and take on the buff-brown colors of the female.

… Upon a tuft of meadow grass,
While thy loved-one tends the nest,
Thou swayest as the breezes pass,
Unburthening thine o’erfull breast
Of the crowded songs that fill it,
Just as joy may choose to will it …
~James Russell Lowell