New life, new hope....

Reports have trickled in about two, possibly three female Kirtland's Warblers nesting at an undisclosed location in central Wisconsin. The Kirtland's is a highly endangered songbird, nesting in carefully managed jackpine forests near Greyling Michigan...until now. For a number of years, birders have seen and heard singing males, some not far from my own birding territory. The birding community has long held that where there are singing males, interested females will soon follow. Last week, the news was released. One of the females was sitting on a nest of four eggs. The birding community is celebrating, and I hope that we can continue to celebrate as forest management practices create suitable nesting habitat for these birds.

In the meantime, I will happily accept this intimate view of family life of one such family that nested in the neighbor's drainpipe. Loud, flashy and boistrous, this view reminds me that they're parents, too. Celebrate this fact and enjoy the birds close at hand. Reports are suggesting some of these, too, are declining. Be reminded that though we might take birds like the Blue Jay or the Eastern Meadowlark for granted in our landscape, our choices as individuals and communities do matter.