Friends,
Warmer weather and a whistling flock of cedar waxwings (called an “ear-full” or “museum”) invited me outdoors yesterday, strengthening my resolve to return to daily outdoor longsitting and more regular blogging. You will hold me accountable, will you not?
I'm a more whole being when my outdoor longsitting practice is indeed daily, as opposed to when I think I have time for it. I can't rightfully call it meditation, because I work to pay attention to (and wonder about) everything around me, but like meditation, it lowers my blood pressure and returns my equilibrium amid the busy-ness of life. One hour of longsitting, or even just fifteen minutes, is a worthy expense for the lift of energy it brings.
So, thank you, dear cedar waxwings at the backyard birdbath––for prioritizing my to-do list!
The more prominent sound in the video, of course, is not cedar waxwing whistle. It's caucophony of redwing blackbird, overpowering the pale sweetness of the waxwing whistle. Large flocks of both species are here in north central Georgia at this time of year. According to my monthly backyard birding journal of the past few years, the blackbirds are here from mid-November to late-February, the waxwings only in February and March. Both will soon be gone, enroute to their preferred nesting habitats further north.
This means it's almost time to start watching for the mating shenanigans of our year-round residents, including my perennial favorite, eastern bluebirds.
I learned today that the red waxy wing-tips, after which cedar waxwings are named, come from their near-exclusive diet of red berries, and that when the dreaded parasitic brown-headed cowbird lays its eggs in a cedar waxwing nest, the nestlings often don't survive, because cowbirds can't survive on fruit alone. Way-to-fight cowbird piracy, cedar waxwings!
The greatest gift of retirement is the time to learn about such wonders of nature. And wonder-of-wonders, heard at the end of today's longsit: a nearby murmur of mating bluebird. Ahhhhh. Spring.
Be well, y’all!
~dkm 2-10-24
