Gray

The Gray Catbird

begins his daily report

while hidden

in the twigs

of this leafy spring.

 

Occasionally,

he nudges out to the edges

of the dense brush,

where we can admire

his dark, rich gray,

and his narrow

black beret.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

The Thicket

In early May,
the thicket thickens
with Staghorn Sumac and Honeysuckle,
with Spicebush and Elderberry.

Entwined with vines
from Wild Grape and Greenbrier. 

The ground grows thick with
Mayapple and Trillium.

Snarled with arching brambles
of Multi-flora Rose,
and tangles of Dewberry
coiling around your feet.

Overhead, two year-round residents:
a raucous Blue Jay, and the
cheerful Black-capped Chickadee.

But coming from the thicket,
new spring songs from the:

mimicking Brown Thrasher;

and shy, meowing Gray Catbird;

the bold-for-his-size 
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
whining and wheezing;

and the secretive
Rufous-sided Towhee
who requests and suggests
that you "Drink your tea... eee..."

© 2019 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Trillium - Lowell Township - Kent County - Michigan

2. Dewberry - Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

3. Blue Jay - Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

4. Black-capped Chickadee - Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

5. BrownThrasher - Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

6. Gray Catbird - Wabasis Lake Park - Kent County, Michigan

7. Blue Gray Gnatcatcher - Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

8. Eastern Towhee - Saul Lake Bog Nature Preserve - Land Conservancy of West Michigan - Kent County, Michigan