Book ‘Song of the Redwing: Voice of the Wetlands’: Prose, Art and Music Fly

Vancouver

Red-winged blackbirds are easy to identify with their purple and gold shoulder mark and the characteristic “oopreeeeeom” crown. Ashland musician and author Tish McFadden made it even more interesting to pay attention to these numerous, soaring signs of spring:

She wrote a song about them and in her new book, “Song of the Red Wing: Voice of the Wetlands” (Black Rose Writing, US $ 26.95) invites everyone to notice them in their wild habitats.

McFadden hopes that when people open her 44-page illustrated book, they’ll feel like they’re in a swamp and encounter dragonflies and bullfrogs. They see a lily pad as a “fragrant bed for a warbler or trill” and katydids swinging trapeze on horsetail. “

The book’s opening words in a rhyming couplet, “Red Sky Heralds the Birth of That Day”, explain that the story will cover sunrise to sunset in an aquatic wonderland: “Redwing sleeps, still in the reeds, as his blanket of darkness slowly passes back. “

McFadden’s prose inspired artist Laura Winslow’s watercolor illustrations to reflect the diversity of life that coexists harmoniously in the marshland: birds, fish and beetles, as well as trees, shrubs and grasses. Even spiders are elevated in their statement about “long-legged architects made of sticky tip”.

The red-winged blackbird was chosen by McFadden to make it easier for readers outdoors, as these numerous birds can also be found in duckweed swamps and damp roadsides, as well as on telephone cables.

McFadden recalls that it was the voice of a red-winged blackbird that kept her young sons on their tracks long ago. They stepped into a knee-deep pond to experience “refrains of whistling insects and birds,” she writes.

“There’s a lot of life there and a symphony of textures, colors, sound and light,” says McFadden, who has been teaching music at her Rum Tum School of Music in Ashland for 32 years. “It opens up a whole new world for us. Like ‘Alice in Wonderland’, only this is very real and can have a lasting impact. “

McFadden makes something else easy to see: your deep love for nature. She says it is part of her family tradition to examine the underside of rocks and leaves, and step into the spongy soil of bogs that are shared from one generation to the next.

Her grandfather waited to propose something to her grandmother until she could name a long list of wild birds. McFadden’s mother, Pat, a biologist who had volunteered at a Michigan nature center for 35 years, introduced her children not only to trails, meadows, and ponds, but also to thousands of schoolchildren walking too far across sidewalks and cement dared to go out.

McFadden was an archaeologist for the United States. Forest Service and their sons grew up backpacking wilderness areas. Now she is hiking with her granddaughter.

A section in her book describes the importance of protecting wetlands and the black-necked wilts and river otters, turtles and night herons and others who live there.

She says being in nature “makes all the bustle of life go away for a bit, and allows young and old to be there with just water, earth and sky and these beautiful creatures.”

18th

Darlene Betat, who has a backyard bird shop or “flock” in Portland, Beaverton, Lake Oswego and Vancouver, Washington, says her favorite characteristics of red-winged blackbirds are how fearless and lively they are when they cross the swamp watch.

“They will willingly harass herons, crows, and hawks as they fly over and repeatedly dive onto the larger bird’s back to drive it away,” she says. “And if a rival dares step on his lawn, they’ll shoot at it in a relentless chase.”

Betat, who noted strong interest in bird watching when the coronavirus stay-at-home orders began last March, says red-winged blackbirds are hard to ignore.

“A man exhibiting is so noticeable and noticeable that he puffs his red and yellow shoulders to sing that even those who are just passing by will notice,” she says.

Like McFadden, she found that bird watching relieves stress, and she says it has comforted people who felt isolated during the pandemic.

“Many who have moved to home offices have noticed bird activity outside their window and are looking for ways to bring it in more regularly,” says Betat. “Parents yearn for ways to free their children from electronic devices, and retirees who have been used to busy schedules are looking for new ways to keep their minds and bodies active.”

By providing food, shelter, and water, birds become regular visitors, making them more noticeable and observable, she says.

We asked Betat to recommend books and films to learn more about birds. Here is the list she put together with the help of friends:

“Kingbird Highway: The Greatest Year In An Extreme Bird Watcher’s Life” by Kenn Kaufman focuses on his youthful goal of seeing most North American species in a year before realizing he is just looking, not seeing (Amazon)
“Living Bird: 100 Years of Nature Hearing” from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a collection of essays by some of the world’s leading naturalists and bird lovers as well as more than 250 images by the renowned nature photographer Gerrit Vyn (Amazon).
“The Feather Quest: A North American Birder Year” by Pete Dunn: Writer and wife Linda embarked on a year-long odyssey after seeing a rare Siberian horse gull in Newburyport, Massachusetts (Amazon).
“The Genius of Birds” by science writer Jennifer Ackerman, who describes the brilliance of birds (Amazon)
“What the Robin Knows: How Birds Reveal the Secrets of the Natural World” by birder, tracker and naturalist Jon Young is a guide to hearing songbirds (Amazon audio version includes bird calls)

Here is a collection of classic books on birds as suggested by Betat’s bird-loving friends:

“Crow Planet: Essential Wisdom from the Urban Wilderness” by Lyanda Lynn Haupt, which combines crow stories with scientific research and the history and mythology of the bird (Amazon)
“H is for Hawk” by the naturalist and falconer Helen Macdonald studies the notoriously prickly, murderous goshawk (Amazon)
“The Devil’s Cormorant: A Natural History” by Richard J. King illuminates the only creature on earth that wander the length of a continent, dive deep underwater and hunt, sit comfortably on a branch or wire, go ashore, climb can climb cliffs, feed on thousands of different species and live alongside fresh and salt water in a huge global temperature and altitude range (Amazon)
“The Sea Bird Cry: The Life and Love of the Planet’s Great Ocean Travelers” by Adam Nicolson, in which the author writes amazing facts about sea birds, their navigational skills, the ability to smell their way to the fish or home, and understand the discipline of offers the winds they depend on (Amazon)

“Birds” by Kevin Henkes with illustrations by Laura Dronzek: A little girl watches birds from her window and dreams of being able to fly (Amazon)
“Vogelgesang” by the author and illustrator Julie Flett: A girl, Katherena, and an older woman, Agnes, share the same passions for handicrafts, birds and nature. But, when the seasons change, can Katherna control her new friend’s poor health? (Amazon)
“Crow Not Crow” by Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple with illustrations by Elizabeth Dulemba: A father introduces his daughter to the joys of birdwatching (Amazon)
“Feather, not just for flying” by Melissa Stewart with illustrations by Sarah S. Brannen: In this introduction, young naturalists explore 16 birds on the many remarkable uses of feathers (Amazon)
“Did you hear the bird nesting?” By Rita Gray with illustrations by Kenard Pak: Hear all the different bird calls as a counterpoint to the ubiquitous silence of a mother bird waiting for her eggs to hatch (Amazon)

Betat says that bird watching from your window is more activity than you will find on a screen. “April to early July is the breeding season, which is full of breeding exhibitions, territorial disputes, nest building and eventual feeding of young,” she says.

It’s entertainment without ads, she jokes. Even so, she has two films that she likes:

“March of the Penguins”, the French nature documentary from 2005 about the annual voyage of the emperor penguins in Antarctica, directed and co-scripted by Luc Jacquet and co-produced by Bonne Pioche and the National Geographic Society.

Winged Migration is a 2001 documentary showing the immense journeys birds routinely make during their migrations, directed by Jacques Cluzaud, Michel Debats and Jacques Perrin, who was also one of the writers and narrators.

Amazon has bird feeding and irrigation supplies.

Chewy has natural bird seed.

Home Depot has bird baths and bird feeders.

Bird baths have excess stocks.

PetCo. has wild bird stocks and bird feeders.

Pet Mountain has Fitch stations as well as pigeon and pigeon seeds.

Petsmart has wild bird seed and outdoor bird feeders.

– Janet Eastman | 503-294-4072

[email protected] | @janeteastman