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
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
