Winter Cattails - Red-winged Blackbird

"Ogalee- geeee!" That is my verbalization of the red-winged blackbirds' spring song. And that sound, along with the cry of the first killdeer or warble of an early robin, brings a little jump to my heart, even when I say it in my head.

From the age of 12, when I received a Roger Tory Peterson field guide as a birthday gift, I kept a bird list. In those days red-winged blackbirds were more special. They had not had their population explosion due to industrial agriculture.

A trip to the marsh in late winter was sometimes rewarded by a first arrival. Over the crunch-crunch of my boots in the snow, would ring the "ogalee- geeee"! I would peer through the ranks of tousled old cattails and there would be the thrilling flash of black and red. Spring would be on its way!