SOUNDS

This morning the air was cool and damp when Sadie and I got to the Riverwalk around 7:30. The rains the night before left large puddles serving as small ponds for the mallards and geese.

The first thing I noticed, as we left the parking lot, was the sound of the gorged river that had risen greatly the night before but had not overtaken the Riverwalk at Dan Daniel Park. The sound was not a rumbling sound but the sound a cat makes when comforted - kind of a purring noise. However, as we approached the dam, we did experience the roaring sound of the raging river that had overtaken the walkway leading down to the river.

The woods below the park were filled with the various octaves of birds and frogs with high pitched birds and high and low voices of the frogs that sang in the cool waters. Voices of humans were not present - just the cacophony of the sounds of nature.

Approaching the 3/4 mile mark from Dan Daniel Park, Sadie was startled by the flapping of a Canada goose and an alarming "HONK." The goose was was on the other side of the wooden railing but near enough to Sadie to throw caution to the wind and fly the short distance to the River.

The mockingbirds put forth their plagiarized songs as we walked toward the train station, but on the way back, a mockingbird was no more than 10 feet above me, singing the beautiful song of a wren. This was enough to cause Sadie to pause and take notice of this bird with wonderful pitch. Sadie stood there, very still, with her neck stretched upwards towards the bird and remained that way, enjoying the music for more than two minutes before losing interest.

Near the bridge at the rest rooms, we heard the frantic flapping of wings and looked over the bridge railing and saw two cormorants running on water as they got the propulsion to lift off into the sky, flying as lovely as the ducks and geese high up in the air. The log in the middle of the river where the cormorants gathered each morning was not filled with the standard grunting heard often in that area, but there were only a few cormorants in the trees across the river since the large tree had been submerged from the flooding.

Approaching the parking lot we stopped momentarily to hear the purring of the river, not knowing if the water will spill over the banks later in the day keeping us from walking the next morning.

On several occasions I closed my eyes and just listened. It was a beautiful day for sounds on the Riverwalk.

Spring is at the Riverwalk

(MARCH 14, 2010) Daylight Savings Time and the birds on the Riverwalk did not adjust their watches. They were doing their usual routines an hour later, so when I got myself out of bed an hour later and ventured forth, the birds were doing what they had been doing the day before, but an hour earlier.

The water had risen with all the rain we have had over the past two days. On the trip back, Sadie was near the water, but when the river lapped at the shore, Sadie jumped and continued to do so each time she got near enough to the river to see the water coming at her close up.

About a mile into our walk, we heard the birds chirping in the woods where the bluebirds, sparrows and mockingbirds hang out. There was one bird chirping louder than the others, and I noticed that one of the churches was playing music. To the tune of "Onward Christian Soliders" the small bird had picked up the tune and was chirping in beat. When the church music ended, so did the chirping of the bird.

I saw my first lily of the year and took some pictures. Also, a mallard couple had found an ephemeral pond created by the rain and were happily swimming calmly near the woods. I also spotted another mallard couple that had been the subject of many of my duck portraits last year. They were posing for me again.

WHAT DID I LEARN TODAY ON THE RIVERWALK? I learned that birds have rhythm, spring is near, and that ducks don't need a big river to swim in.