Mockingbird

There is a warming trend underway and it seems to have brought out more bird life than in past weeks.  Or perhaps with spring just around the corner, it is time for birds to attract one another and mate and nest.  I wish that I knew more about these winged marvels all around us, the gulls and pelicans that soar high overhead, the sandpipers that feed on insects and the biofilm that comes in on the tide, and all of these noisier species that inhabit the brush along the walkway.

This morning after drinking my cup of coffee out on the dune-top deck, a remarkable little bird landed nearby, atop one of the myrtle or yaupon bushes; I was ten feet away, gazing in admiration as this little fellow proceeded to unleash his entire repertoire, a torrent of music that never seemed to repeat itself.  He was like the precocious child of an indulgent symphony conductor who was allowed to wander throughout the orchestra and try out every instrument available, tooting French horns, buzzing woodwind reeds, plucking all manner of strings.  I went to get my camera and this was the best I could do; he had moved to the railing of the adjoining house, and he had fallen silent, as if to say, you're not recording me!  I am improvising, I am making jazz!

I have an app on my iPhone called "Bird Song ID USA" that should be useful for times like this - it supposedly matches a recording of a song with a huge database - but so far it has proven pretty useless; everything comes up "Brown Thrasher," or whenever I find an interesting bird and begin recording it, a truck will go by, or an airplane will fly overhead.  But I think my little friend was a Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos), whose song on my iPhone sounded similar, and whose appearance was, too.  (What a name! - "polyglottos")

Northern Mockingbird (from Wikipedia)

Two smaller birds chattered to each other, although they were not as gifted in voice, playing tag from bush to bush, landing on the walkway railing from time to time.

I could have stayed out all morning, phone and binoculars in hand, but I decided this would be an activity for another day.  Today we drove down through Emerald Isle to Swansboro, a peaceful ramble, and had lunch at the Saltwater Grill right on the White Oak River.

We came back in time for a leisurely walk on the beach, and we also met our upstairs neighbor Rita, who I learned had been watching me nearly every morning do my Tai Chi on the deck.  'You were late this morning," she said.  "Yes, I slept in."  And now I will feel self-conscious.  It is a very prominent place to exercise, after all, but how can I resist?  Out on this perfect deck, the dunes all around, the sun rising, the ocean before me.

We came upstairs and I could hear my mockingbird out the open doors, so I rushed back out phone in hand and snapped my best picture yet:

My little polyglot!  He stopped singing as soon as I came to gaze up at him and take his picture, as I had expected he would.