An ovenbird in a tangle of brush at Pulaski Park this morning marked the first “new species” I’ve logged downtown in quite a while. With spring migration heating up I’d hoped to find more warblers. Overall it was quiet, though, with steady rain and cameos from a yellow warbler, a sharp-shinned hawk, a northern flicker and a belted kingfisher.
Great photo. I did not realize an oven bird was a type of warbler. Can’t wait for the black-throated green warblers to appear with their easily-recognizable songs.
The oven bird was celebrated by two of New England’s greatest writers. Henry Thoreau said the bird’s note “is loud and unmistakable,” while Robert Frost used the bird as a metaphor for the passage of time in “The Oven Bird,” part of his “Mountain Interval” 1916 collection.
Thanks, Dan!
And thanks for those notes on Thoreau and Frost — I’ll need to check those out. Cheers!