LOVELY TWILIGFHT SONGS

      As we sat on our deck in suburban New Holland, Pennsylvania at dusk on a May evening, I suddenly remembered, with pleasure, the gentle, beautiful songs of male wood thrushes and eastern wood pewees at twilight in June, in the forests of Mt. Gretna, Pennsylvania.  I was a teenager the first time I heard them from an upstairs bedroom in a Mt. Gretna cottage.  The windows were open and the birds seemed to be singing from right outside them.  Each bird of both species repeatedly sang their heavenly songs until dusk became darkness in the woods.  And I have enjoyed those wonderful songs most every spring and summer since. 

     The lovely, clear notes of the wood thrushes sounded like fairy flutes- "eeee-o-llaaaa" or aaaa-o-lleeee".  Those pure notes from feathered, spot-breasted flutes floated lightly,  chorus after delightful chorus, through the darkening woods.    

     But the quiet, dreamy songs of male pewees tore at my heart even more than the thrushes' flute notes.  But I certainly will remember the bold notes of the thrushes and the low-key, melancholy whistles of the pewees all my life.  

     Each male pewee repeatedly and gently sang "pee-a-weeee, pee-a-weeee, pee-uuurrrr" until darkness hushed him.  The flute notes of the thrushes and the breezy sighing of the pewees created a wonderful, soothing, unforgettable concert for several minutes each evening from early May to mid-July. when their breeding seasons are finished.  

     Bird song establishes breeding territories, and attracts a mate to each male singer.  It is all practical and serious to the birds, but those songs are pure joy and beauty to people who truly listen to them.  

     Bird song is enjoyable and inspiring.  Listen to it this spring and summer.   

           

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