Shakespeare may have written “now is the winter of our discontent” (S/W Ontario’s winter has been again oddly benign), but the words penned by Pete Seeger in the protest song, Where Have All the Flowers Gone, really draws a more graphic picture of what we are asking: what has happened to our feathered singing tenors of the bird world, the Northern Cardinal?
Like most homeowners, we take pride in regularly filling our birdfeeders and observing the normal feathery mayhem that ensues after a fresh bucket of mixed seed replenishes the feeding stations. Serendipitous casual conversation has strongly suggested that we are not alone in placing comment about the conspicuous absence of our normally ubiquitous redbird around the yard and feeding stations.
Please feel free to comment if you have seen or heard the clarion call of the Illinois State bird while fluttering from cedar hedge to tree this winter. We (our family and friends) cannot be alone in this observation. We look forward to hearing that thicker, more plentiful pickings have attracted multitudes of these feathered singing Enrico Caruso’s to your backyard this winter.
Meanwhile, keep your eyes to the skies and your ears at the ready. Happy bird watching, one of the world’s most affordable and popular sports!
P.S. On Friday, January 25th, 2013, several people noted that 3 rather large (and mangy) coyotes were spotted midday on a prolonged prowl “just” north of the Hospice in the village of Inglewood. Small pet owners and mothers with young children should naturally be extra vigilant over the next little while.