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The Morning Porch

Daily short takes from an Appalachian hollow

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Carolina wren

July 1, 2009 by Dave Bonta

Everything drips; I don’t notice that the rain has stopped until the sun comes out. A burst of song from phoebe, catbird and Carolina wren.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags Carolina wren, catbird, phoebe
September 27, 2008 by Dave Bonta

First one, then a second Carolina wren pops out from under the eaves, perches in the fretwork for a second, and flies off into the fog.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags Carolina wren, fog
August 27, 2008 by Dave Bonta

Carolina wrens counter-singing from the springhouse, her Zzzzit! simultaneous with his TeakettleTeakettleTeakettle: the sound of the steam.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags Carolina wren, springhouse
August 1, 2008 by Dave Bonta

Close your eyes and it could be any season: a Carolina wren; a scolding nuthatch; twittering finches; a loud, hoarse cough up in the woods.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags Carolina wren, white-breasted nuthatch
July 14, 2008 by Dave Bonta

A Carolina wren stops by and pours out fifteen seconds of pure exuberance—just enough to remind me how much I’ve been missing. (Stay! Nest!)

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags Carolina wren
December 28, 2007 by Dave Bonta

The stream this morning is full of auguries, such as: “If you want to be master of all you survey, live in a ravine.” Carolina wren song.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags Carolina wren, stream
December 6, 2007 by Dave Bonta

Clear and very cold. I hear squirrel teeth on walnut shell. The Carolina wren’s happiness motor turns over once, twice, then putts to life.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags Carolina wren, gray squirrel
November 9, 2007 by Dave Bonta

A doe trailed by a scrawny 5-point buck. The soundtrack includes a train, a raven, geese, a wren, and a low-flying plane with a wide eraser.

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Categories Plummer's Hollow Tags Canada geese, Carolina wren, plane, raven, train, white-tailed deer
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On This Day

  • September 18, 2025
    Another crystal-clear morning. The roar of traffic from over the ridge dies down as the air warms, leaving the jeers of jays and the high whistles of waxwings.
  • September 18, 2024
    Heavily overcast and still—a perfect morning to watch walnut leaves fall: the flutterers, the gliders, the tumblers, the spirallers, and the rare ones that float straight down.
  • September 18, 2023
    Half an hour past sunrise, the top of the tall tulip poplar turns gold. But I notice that yellow leaves continue down the tree. One sails out into the goldenrod.
  • September 18, 2021
    Standing out front talking with my mom, I watch the fog behind her turn from pink to orange to gold. A Carolina wren adds color commentary.
  • September 18, 2020
    First light. Ghostly figures in the meadow shrink into common snakeroot. The distant gargle of a truck jake-breaking off the interstate.

See all...

Related book

Cover of Ice Mountain with a linocut of a big ridgetop tree.

What I do after I sit on the porch. One winter and spring's daily walks distilled into short poems with linocut illustrations by Beth Adams.

Header image: detail from Paper Garden by Clive Hicks-Jenkins (used by permission)

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