Old Friends

Trail Wood Chickadees #37 - Earl Plato

“Chickadees call around us as we begin our circuit of the Fern Brook Trail. We then continue on the traces of the long-abandoned stagecoach route, the Old Colonial Road, that cuts east and west through the North Woods, then up a steep S-shaped curve past a land mark of the woods, the great silvered stump of a chestnut that died before we came to Trail wood. On to the top of Old Cabin Hill and so finally home by the lowland trail of Ground Pine Crossing. The little birds convoy us as far as the Old Colonial Road - a small troupe of lively blackcaps darting from tree to tree stopping to investigate the bark under some limb calling their names with the bright good cheer we remember from the most blustery days of winter, They keep pace with us, We are old friends of the bitter days, the days when they depended largely on us for food. They recognize us. To be more exact it is the same coat they recognize, our form and our clothing. For like most birds for them that becomes a badge of recognition.”