Spring 85: Sweet Carolina

9:00am-9:20am, ArtStreet and environs, University of Dayton, OH
overcast and humid

It's one of those days that is hard to wake up. The light is dim from an almost-stormy sky, and my eyes just don't see the point of opening.

I take the lazy Sunday morning option and sit out by the sweet little hollow of rushes and foliage right behind my apartment. It's a tiny little green wilderness in the middle of a concrete and lawn-ed landscape.

One of my fellow artists, Marin, has seen lots of goldfinches out here, so I decide to look for them.

Not much movement this morning, but eventually I see about five or six goldfinches, none of whom care to sing. All that I hear are a few raucously loud house sparrows amplified by the smooth cement.

I go for a stroll and discover a couple Carolina chickadees on a neighboring lawn. Admittedly, I am only aware that they are Carolina (and not Black-Capped as the ones in Boston are) because Tom Hissong at Aullwood Audubon pointed this out to me last week. Still, it is fun to listen closely and try to suss out the nuance - the Carolina's "chick-a-dee-dee-dee" is faster than the Black-Capped, and (though I didn't hear it yet) they sing with four or more call notes instead of two.