Birders

here in NE South Carolina. When I was a child the yard was always full of dozens of all kinds of birds. When I came back in 1984 they had thinned radically.

Most recently they became more and more rare. This summer I have not seen one bird of any sort, except for one distant soaring hawk. The cardinals, bluejays, mockingbirds, bluebirds, woodpeckers, hummingbirds, sparrows, Carolina wrens (state bird, so numerous my grandmother had to occasioally chase them out of the house with her apron!) and so many more. "Hootie" owls and whip-poor-wills calling from the woods. Doves that nested in the barn loft. So many more. Many I don't evem know their names. They're all gone not leaving a trace.

As a kid there were all sorts of bird songs all the time. Now, nothing. Mornings are silent.

Last bird I saw this summer were the few cardinals that feasted on my blueberry bushes. They left the yard after they devoured the last berry. The jays didn't even make an appearance this year. Even the sweet pair of mourning doves that used to perch on the roof of my barn every summer morning are gone. And I can't remember the last time I heard a bobwhite call from the edge of my neighbor's field.

I think it's mostly because the bugs have left. As recently as ten years ago the ground behind the mower would just swarm with literally thousands of bugs that would rise up in clouds as if rising from the dead and hundreds of dragonflies would assault them while they were airborne. As soon as the mower was gone the new cut grass would be set upon by birds feasting on the bugs as they settled back down.

Now when we mow, there are no bugs. No dragonflies. No birds. Nor do any bugs swarm the outdoor night lights (except the mosquitoes of course). The bugs are gone. That includes even the fireflies. I saw a couple flashing from the edge of the woods last year. This year - none. Also I've seen no wasps, no dirt daubers, no bees, no bats.

Most of all I miss the songs. And I feel so badly for my great grandchildren, who never heard those songs. Who never knew there were songs to hear. (Beyond the older ones, who heard a few mockingbirds whose mocking I pointed out.) How do I explain to them what it was like to come out in the early morning to hear that whole gang chirping and singing as they fluttered around from tree to tree all over the yard?

Sorry, kids. Nothing left here but the mosquitoes and the fireants.

Wat