Poems to Help in Remembering
"Deserts in Winter"
(January 11-20,2002)
by Lynn Barber
LeConte's Thrasher
In the midst of the desert, the sage and the sand,
I've been running and scoping, but now I just stand.
My throat is so dry, my
feet are so tired,
But I'm beginning to feel amazed and inspired.
The thrasher, LeConte's,
a runner, so swift; My one view in flight, a surprising quick gift.
700 I've seen, that's ABA birds;
Elation flows o'er me, surrounding
my words.
So what will be next? The quest will not stop. Either the birds will run out,
or I guess I'll just drop.
Sparrow Lament (tune-Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory.)
Mine eyes have seen a flock of larks; I've seen my share of quails.
I've seen pipits. I've seen meadowlarks. I even have seen rails.
I've seen soaring hawks and diving ducks, but before my eyesight fails,
I want to see a Baird's.
Glory, glory, what a great
trip we have had.
Glory, glory, just to leave it makes me sad.
Glory, glory, there is naught I want so bad,
As to keep on tromping for Baird's.
Sue's Song (tune: Clementine)
"In a canyon, is a towhee, and it's waiting just for me.
I will find that little skulker," said my roommate Sue to me.
Brown it was, and like a
field mouse, lurking shy beneath a tree,
But it hopped out, so we saw it. That's the end of this story.
Deserts in Winter
Deserts in Winter, a bird trip.
January, two thousand and two.
The trip is a great one, and birdy,
And the people are wonderful too.
John, the tender of bird
life,
Susan, tending phone at his side,
Karl, who's filming the whole thing,
Kirk, absent-minded with pride.
Bert, who keeps us all guessing,
Dorothy, with raven-black hair,
Alice, a bit quiet and serious,
Lois, you know that she's there.
And then there is Sue, she's
my roommate,
Cheerful and bouncy and all.
At last we come to our leader,
Bird-finder extraordinaire, Paul.
Thrashers, gnatcatchers,
sparrows,
Towhees, blackbirds, and quail,
Raptors, hummers, and wrens,
He's found the birds without fail (nearly).