Music In The Canebrake

  With all of the recent rainstorms passing through the area, the plants are living the dream life!  The entire place is as green and lush as I have ever seen it.  This makes for some interesting yard work as I am forever trimming new growth from every plant, bush, vine, tree in the yard.  This thick overgrowth has also been a boon to the birds and other wildlife as they now have plenty of places to hide a nest.  One smart bird made her nest in the middle of the canebrake.  There she sets on 6 pale blue eggs that are sprinkled with a few rust colored specks.  It is also there...or nearby...that the male bird keeps watch.  His constant singing is a warning to others that he is ready and willing to protect his ladylove and their future brood.  The singing is a territorial behavior that most people mistake as a happy bird song.  

  The birds that have nested in the canebrake are brown thrashers.  I watched as they built the nest and then was extra vigilant not to disturb that nest while removing some of the dead canes.  Working near the canebrake allows me to enjoy the male thrasher's song and the almost "whispered" female's return song.  Hers is ever so soft that if you do not really listen, you may miss it altogether.

  Many folks miss identify the brown thrasher's song as that of a mockingbird but, while similar, there is one major telltale difference.  Both birds have a wide variety of sounds, phrases and notes in their songs but while the mockingbird may repeat each "phrase" three to five times, a brown thrasher only repeats twice...no more.  This helped me to identify the thrasher doing all of this singing without me ever seeing the bird.  I knew who I was listening to far before I found the bird.