Today the mercury hit a sweltering 50°, so after hitting the SEND button for a major assignment, I went outside to manufacture some Vitamin D.
My local walk is so convenient I rarely drive to the park anymore. It’s flat, but offers plenty of sun as it winds through a 4-mile square loop of rural backroads and village streets before meandering across the river where we pause to admire the old red mill and cascading waterfall before heading home again.
As I was pounding my work-a-day stress into the pavement, I noticed something reflect off the road. Why, it was a shiny new penny. Another step, I saw another penny.
I thought to hurry on by, but then I hesitated. The sun’s reflection off the copper-coated coins made them look awfully pretty against that cold, dark asphalt. What a shame it would be to abandon them to the next salt truck or Toyota Tacoma, which would cast them into a roadside ditch where they’d slowly dissolve and reemerge someday as a spindly thistle plant.
Besides, after a long, hard winter I’m going to take all the luck I can get. So I walked back and found the pennies, picked them up, and slid them into my shoe.
Ha, I thought. Maybe I’ll win my first million, or get that house in the country I always wanted.
Well, no sooner did I turn the corner, 75 yards away, when my luck cashed in. No, it wasn’t an overturned Brinks truck with hundred dollar bills scattering in the wind. It wasn’t Bob Barker saying “YOU’RE the next contestant on the Price is RIGHT!”
It was the angelic tinkling sound of a Horned Lark coming from a low position in a fallow ag field. As if it had seen me approaching, the bird flew up into the air and headed straight for me, banking off to a turn at last minute. It flew around a house, settled back into its bunker, and continued to sing.
Horned Larks feeding along a rural road in Livingston County, NY. Note the icy grass behind the birds. If I'm not mistaken, I captured this image on a January, 2009 outing with good old Mike Bergin of 10000birds.com
What a welcome sound! I had no idea these birds were here and so close to home. Yes, I am squarely in its range, but I normally travel much further to find a nice assemblage of Snow Buntings, Horned Larks, and the occasional Lapland Longspur. Nations Road, a rural path in Livingston County, is a favorite. I often look for them but don’t see them on Doran Road in Lima.
I stood, listened, and watched for awhile before continuing my walk. My luck was doubled when I heard another lark sing from a field further down the street!
Not sure about you, but I’ll be picking up more of these pennies in my future, shiny or not.
To hear the song of a Horned Lark, travel on over to the All About Birds website where you can learn about the larks and hear their typical song, which is a high-pitched tinkling sound that tumbles over the plains.
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