‘The Flocking of September’
This poem is from Ed Keenan,
author & cowboy poet
 

The fall migration of wood warblers is not as spectacular as spring, but those large flocking herds are always stunning. Both migrants afford an opportunity to catch glimpses of the beauty that passed through for a month in the spring. The blend of fall colors of both bird and leaf of warblers returning south makes birding the creek bottoms, ridges and marshes a challenge. It is an inspiration bringing change in seasons and changes in a poet’s fancy like…“The Flocking Of September”.

From the fierce individuality of spring
To the gathering instinct of September,
I savor this phenomenon of mixed flocks,
Waves of wood warblers
In peaceful migration.

Male’s no longer defending territories
Dividing woods and fields into fiefdoms,
The calm days of August now a free-for-all
And relief from competition
Brings unity of purpose.

Just brief glimpses dressed in muted colors
Slipping through wizened colored leaves
And trees that twitch with natty figures,
Hurried movements south
Catch the waning sunlight.

No longer belting out a proud victory song,
A perfect camouflage of black and orange
Fanning gray-and-yellow tail feathers
In typical Redstart fashion,
Gleaning bark and crevice.

From twig to golden leaf seeking lazy insects,
Silently stripping each bough spic and span
The lively chase for turf is an easier game,
Down low a Wilson’s warbler
Displays his black scull cap.

Passing glimpses call for jotting down logos,
Special hash marks of laundered insignias
Like earmarks wing bars and spectacles,
Alas! An Orange-crowned
No! A Nashville warbler.

September mixes Yellow-rumped warblers
With some plain greenish-yellow jobbers,
Moving quickly sifting through woods
Using chickadees as sentinels,
Testing me and my binoculars.

Ed Keenan © 10-03