The Parrots of Irony

I’m excited about my new New Jersey tour, “Birding the American Revolution.” It’s still a year away, but I’m busy gathering seasonally appropriate photos and reviewing the route, especially here on the tangled roads of north Jersey. So this morning I hit the Palisades, site of the ill-fated Fort Lee and, today, some very nice passerine migration.

As I wandered among the (reconstructed) batteries and powderhouses, I was never out of sight of Hermit Thrushes or Chipping Sparrows, while the lisps of Myrtle Warblers and the buzzy trills of Palm Warblers drifted down from the trees. A Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and a Blue-headed Vireo were clear signs that this lazy spring is finally ready to take its next step forward.

Leaving Fort Lee, I absent-mindedly went south rather than north, and found myself in Edgewater before I could easily turn around. Over the traffic noise and through my rolled-up windows, I heard the harsh squawking of parrots.

There were stick nests on the power poles at three or four intersections, and this brash bird was engaged in some construction of its own right next to the road. I’d forgot that there were Monk Parakeets here–long established and “countable”–but suppose we’ll have to make a stop for them next May. In search of the silent remnants of history, I found instead the raucous voices of the future.