Racing Toward Equinox

Phenology, Poems, and Commentary

Photo by Michael & Diane Weidner on Unsplash

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