A Noisy Thanks

So far this spring, in my ‘hood, I’ve seen:

Intrepid black crows cawing and mean,

Lazy red-tailed hawks soaring to maul,

Energetic woodpeckers dominating all,

Nascent black phoebes in their nest of three,

Tiny Anna’s hummingbirds swooping with glee;

Scrub jays behaving as if they’re king,

Pairs of mourning doves each pitying,

Robins, red-breasted, digging my grubs,

Ignoble house sparrows filling the shrubs,

Northern mockingbirds acting like barons,

Gopher-stalking great blue herons;

Rufus hummingbird being a missile,

A charm of gold finches eating our thistle,

California towhees gleaning the heather,

House finches in their varied red feathers,

Elusive bluebirds delivering peace,

Large band-tailed pigeons looking obese;

Citrine hooded orioles, exotic!

A pair of quail, almost quixotic,

Radiant and showy black-headed grosbeak,

Set of mallards away from their creek,

Oak titmice with their Mohawks frenetic,

Nuthatch, white breasted, looking ascetic.