Bobolinks

Bobolinks in Old Bertie by Earl Plato

I grew up with meadowlarks and bobolinks. The time was
WW2 and the fields to the west of our Bertie Township home were ideal for those two birds. No DDT then.
Here in 2008 daughter Allison and I saw bobolinks on the edge of Marcy Woods. Allison asked, “What are those birds with the white rumps? I looked at the birds which were black with white rumps. Bobolinks. That’s right in the fields on the Marcy farm Rob Eberly and I had seen bobolinks in previous years. This is the bird that winters in Argentina, South America! Here in late May he flies our fields again. I say that his flight is like goldfinches - an undulating graceful flight. Listen as they fly by. It is a series of joyful, bubbling, tumbling, gurgling sounds with each note I am told on a different pitch.
As a youth I uncovered a bobolink nest in our field. There were five spotted with red-brown and purple. They were well nestled in a cup of grass, stems, and small rootlets. It was not as well constructed as its neighbour the meadowlark. Migration? Apparently they flock together in large numbers for the migration flight south. In southern United States they are called “Rice birds”. That makes sense. They have to fuel up for they still have a ways to go. Like fir the white rump.