Golden-crowned Kinglet
An early morning thunderstorm and heavy rain were followed by a mostly cloudy, wet and dripping day – again. So far, it’s been a rainy fall.
But even though the day was cloudy, the air felt fresh and crisp and wonderfully cool. As I walked, the clouds began to break apart, and by the time I got back home, the sky was mostly a soft, pale blue, with only high, scattered white clouds. Showers of leaves drifted down all around me, and once, a yellow sulphur butterfly tumbled among them, as if falling, too.
Birds were scattered and scarce, it seemed, but from the tops of oaks and pecan trees in a neighbor’s yard, I heard a high, sibilant ti-ti-ti call for the first time this season – the call of a Golden-crowned Kinglet – or maybe two or three, as the calls were repeated several times. The tiny gray birds with black-and-white striped face and yellow-orange crown were too high up to see, and too well hidden in the leaves, but it’s nice to know they’re back.