Poetry
Over the last few days I have been looking at the natural world with springtime eyes. Flowers are appearing and birds are on the move. February 28, 2025 Today at Amnicola Marsh I saw a large flock of Northern Shovelers, many of whom swam in pairs. I see them here in winter and the range map on the All About Birds website from Cornell University indicates Chattanooga is on the edge of a migration pathway and wintering grounds. They nest in the western parts of the US and Canada, with a smaller nesting area around the great lakes. A few patches in the Western US show them as year-round residents. Their outsized beaks give them a comical appearance. Canada Geese are also plentiful. A Northern Cardinal sings from a branch and American Robins work the lanwns. Their winter flocks are breaking up and they should be on the nest soon. I heard a Red-shouldered Hawk calling but could not see the bird. As I left I my vehicle, I saw a pair of them flying off toward Lost Mound Road, another section of the Riverpark. February 27, 2028 The outflow from Chickamauga Dam looks fierce. Only a few of the Ring Billed gulls remain. They circle above the water and descend to hit the surface. A Double-crested Cormorant swims past the near shore. I can see the orange cheeks without binoulars. With binoculars, two tufts on the head become visible right before the bird dives. A Great Blue Heron works the shoreline. The lawn above the river is alive with Bird's-eye Speedwell and a few Henbit Deadnettle. No flowers appear on the Crane's-bill but the geranium-like leaves are abundant. At Amnicola Marsh the grounds are awash in Tiny Bluets (Houstonia pusilla) and Hariy Bittercress. I can't Identify the backlit geese and ducks on the pond. February 26 Walking the trails at Audubon Acres, I saw one Bloodroot and a few Virgina Springbeauty in flower. A Waterleaf is not yet in flower and last year's leaves of Christmas Fern are abundant. Fiddleheads should appear soon. Hairy Bittercress with tiny white flowers is present, but not abundant. Fungi are abundant along the wetland trail. My knowledge of mycology is limited, almost nonexistant, so I am depending on iNaturalist for identification. Two types of bracket fungi are present, as are Pear-shaped Puffballs. I identified another fungus as turkey-tail, and an iNaturalist expert has since confirmed that identification.
This photo is from two years ago, but they should return soon.
Poetry
Willow and Mockingbird Mockingbird on a willow branch sings his morning song. Sometimes he sits outside my door and sings the whole night long. Dewdrops fall from strap-shaped leaves. Willow, why do you weep? Because the river holds dark tales in secret places deep. At Everglades National Park The frogs call with their loudest voice but they aren’t loud enough to silence old bull gator’s grunts his bellows are no bluff. He’ll challenge every other male to catch a lady’s eye. The others give a timid grunt and leave without goodbye. Then spring will end and summer come amid the stormy gales as little ’gators ride about on mothers’ snouts and tails. They’ll chase old bull away from there they won’t want him around. They guard their young to safely grow and ’gators will abound. Rushing Toward Springtime With Solstice come and gone, I look skyward to spy the Dog Star. Orion and his hounds outshine Auriga and the twins. Mars is brighter still but leaving before the Equinox arrives, as nearby cranes fly off to nest in Michigan and Wisconsin. Soon, Ospreys will return to fish below the dam and bloodroot will open its white flowers. When trout lilies and trilliums bloom I will walk the mountain trails and thank them for returning. Fewer will appear. Living in the Anthropocene I will be thankful for what is left. An Etheree Farms Worldwide Food Crisis Bankrupt farmers Can’t feed anyone Business and government Are not helping the matter Learn to forage; grow your own food Pray you outlast the vast hungry hoard Until they descend on you like locusts. A quatran on the future of Family Farms “Get big or get out,” said a famous non-farmer. as business, government, and industry put farmers into bankruptcy and claimed their land to build condos and strip malls no one used. See the web site, deadmalls.com.
First Bloodroot blossom at Audubon Acres.
Commentary
The way to true independence is to get as many citizens as possible to grow as much of their food as possible. It will only work if practiced as a mass movement. Read Wendell Berry’s long poem, “The Farm.”
The USDA plans to spend up to $1 Billion to solve the Avian Flu that is driving the high price of eggs. Small flocks are less subject to disease. I recently read a conspiracy theory that bird flu began in 2014 and was created in a government laboratory. Never mind the report of a 1959 outbreak in Scotland.
When I read about the Avian Influenza, I remembered reading David Quammen's book Spillover. Quammen traveled the world interviewing experts on viruses and providing labor to help accomplish the many small tasks necessary to field work. He discussed the ecology of viruses and concluded with the remark, “We are the outbreak.”
Turkey Tail
Lovely. And I especially appreciate the quack-out to the Backlit Goose, which has more than a few times confounded me.