Black-and-white Warbler and Louisiana Waterthrush
Very late this afternoon, almost early evening, a gentle spring rain was falling and thunder rumbled. Pale sunshine filtered through the clouds now and then, and a green mist of new green leaves just beginning to open shimmered in the woods.
As I sat on the screened porch listening to the rain, I heard the songs of two early spring birds for the first time this season. A Black-and-white Warbler sang its high, sibilant weesa-weesa-weesa song around the edges of the woods nearby. And the very different bright, shining notes of a Louisiana Waterthrush rose up the wooded hill from somewhere down along the creek. These two birds are both almost always among the earliest migrants to return, sure signs of spring.