The Fledgling

It is a sunny, clear afternoon in early June. There is definite bird activity in the magnolia near our back patio. As I walk back from the woods, two robins in obvious distress chatter and flit from branch to branch above me. A few white patches of bird excrement on the patio prompt me to move out of range. Wonder what their problem is.

A few minutes later in the house, a small dark figure on the patio catches my attention. I look closer to see it is a fledgling bird lying motionless under the magnolia tree. Oh! - synapses slowly fire and connect the proverbial dots - that must have been what the birds were fussing about. Darn, I can feel the bird parents' anguish over the apparent loss of the fledgling lying on the bare pavement.

I tell Suzanne about the mini-drama of nature unfolding with the birds. We observe a few bird deaths from time to time - sometimes from confused fliers who crash into one particular window, apparently thinking it is open space. A few minutes later, I look out, and the patio is empty. The fledgling thought dead is alive and gone. I survey the bushes and yard; can't see it anywhere. Good news. The fledgling lives. The parents are still around but quiet now.

Half an hour later, the drama takes a different turn. We see a kitten walk by the patio door past where the fledgling was observed. Suzanne says "look at that cute little kitty." Then we look at each other and exclaim together: "the bird!" I rush outside and shoo away the kitten. We never saw the kitten or the little bird again.

Another little drama plays out in Bittersweet Woods, with a presumed happy ending.

It smells like summer

Most seasons lack characteristic smells in Bittersweet Woods. But in mid May and early June, pleasant fragrances waft over sections of the trail. It always comes as an unexpected surprise, though it is predictable each year. Coincidentally, two of the scents all come from blooms on invasive plants.

In late may, I notice the subtle odor of rose blooms from multifloral rose bushes. They are thick in parts of the woods. Each year we dig out or pull up hundreds of these plants. Multiflora rose is a quick-spreading invasive plant introduced in the 1930's with good intentions as a natural pasture fence. They have since become an invasive nightmare in eastern US pastures, woods, and trails. But the scent is wonderful when the flowers bloom.


Next in late May is the unsmistakable smell of honeysucklebblooms. These are those pleasant fragrances to me. They bring back pleasant memories of years past hiking in the woods. If you pinch the base of the bloom, you can force out a drip of the nectar and place it on your tongue. It is awesome - I use that overused word
for things that truly inspire awe to me.


The last fragrance was a newly discovered one for me. Yesterday I kept noticing a jasmine-like fragrance. I also saw some spent blooms from privet bushes along the trail. But I did not connect the two. Until...I smelled one of the flowers. A very pleasant and distinctive scent. Privet is considered invasive, I guess. But in our woods, they are in shaded areas and do not spread much.

There are other smells of the seasons, for sure. But these stand out to me in Bittersweet Woods. They signal that the "lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer" (Nat King Cole song from 1963 release) have arrived. Enjoy each day while you can.