May 15, 2024
This morning as a gentle Spring rain falls on the gardens at Merry Mount, outside the window of the sunporch where I read and write, I can hear the cooing of a solitary Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura), the melodious song of an American Robin (Turdus migratorius), the soft chirping of an American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis) and I notice a Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) sipping from the feeder. We live on a peaceful slice of paradise. In 2006, I took a class in Ornithology at The Ohio State University, a weeklong course offered at the Stone Laboratory located on Gibraltar Island in Lake Erie. It offered me more than I could learn about birds.
My Field Checklist
When Birds & Blooms magazine was launched in 1995, Rett and I were living on a quiet suburban street in Worthington, OH that had an enclosed backyard-a perfect habitat for songbirds. Like most pseudo naturalists, we tried to carve out enough time in our schedules to watch and attract as many species as possible. A recital tour of England in the summer of 1991 exposed us to a panoply of British walled gardens, both large and small, and Rett was inspired to create her own version back home in the Midwest. On the first morning at the B&B in Lavenham, England, we were served a lovely breakfast on Portmeirion Tableware, and Rett and I began our journey toward everything “Birds and Blooms.” It didn’t take long for our attention to be drawn to Birds & Blooms magazine where like millions of other nature enthusiasts, our passions were inspired by the birding and gardening content created and evaluated by experts in the field.
The magazine covers a wide range of topics such as attracting hummingbirds, building birdhouses, gardening for butterflies, feeding birds for less, growing veggies, and tales of readers’ birding experiences. For several decades we looked forward to the arrival of the bimonthly subscription.
In 2013, we gave up our subscription, moved from Worthington to Merry Mount where we began to transform our three-acre property into a place where our passions for birds and blooms could reach full fruition. While our ability to attract a wide variety of songbirds has been limited, Rett’s gardening expertise and hard work has produced numerous flower and vegetable gardens.
Now, as we grow older, we can observe how our dream gardens have taken shape, but also that the breadth of that dream has limitations and our ability to manage it is perhaps beyond our capability. None-the-less, I offer you a few snapshots from our endeavor.
Die Rose, die Lilie, die Taube, die Sonne,
Die liebt’ ich einst alle in Liebeswonne.
Ich lieb’ sie nicht mehr, ich liebe alleine
Die Kleine, die Feine, die Reine, die Eine;
Sie selber, aller Liebe Wonne,
Ist Rose und Lilie und Taube und Sonne.
-Heinrich Heine
Rose, lily, dove, sun,
I loved them all once in the bliss of love.
I love them no more, I only love
She who is small, fine, pure, rare;
She, most blissful of all loves,
Is rose and lily and dove and sun.
Translation by Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)
CPW
Still hoping to visit before I croak! Here’s my little bit of paradise this beautiful morning. Lots of song birds…very noisy out here! Merlin bird ID helps me identify them by their songs.