starling – The Morning Porch

April 23, 2009

Dave Bonta April 23, 2009

A moment of sunlight illuminates the yard. Water seeps from the mountain’s every pore. The starling is doing its best to talk like a duck.

Dave Bonta April 17, 2009

Rattle and rasp from a hole in the eaves where the starlings are moving in. A pair of ravens low over the ridge. The sun’s blazing nest.

Dave Bonta March 26, 2009

First rainy morning in weeks, but how quickly things turn to rust: rasp of a starling, a red-winged blackbird’s call, a scolding squirrel.

Dave Bonta March 23, 2009

Cardinal song followed by gargling laughter: a starling sits at the top of a locust, its bill a gleaming needle in the deep blue sky.

Dave Bonta March 18, 2009

Bluebird, white-throated sparrow, a starling’s liquid note, and high overhead, a killdeer: the sky must be blue above the fog.

Dave Bonta April 23, 2008 1

A male starling—a rarity here—lands among the cherry blossoms, iridescent black feathers speckled with white. He gargles musically.