Thanks, Neil! - The Vermont birding community is amazing in its diverse knowledge and background. I’m pleased to know which bird sings in the dark of December - and I’m so delighted that the little wrens are doing so also in so many parts of the state.
Maeve Kim, Jericho Center

> On Jan 13, 2021, at 10:16 AM, Neil Buckley <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> Hi Maeve:
> 
> I believe the poem's about a European robin, *Erithacus rubecula*, the
> "original" robin, so to speak. They sing very loudly all winter and are
> beloved in the British Isles for their tameness and
> familiarity (Continental Robins on the other hand are much more retiring).
> I have very fond memories of Irish robins livening up the long winter
> evenings  when I was growing up in Cork.
> 
> Neil Buckley
> 
> On Wed, Jan 13, 2021 at 9:46 AM Maeve Kim <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
>> I first heard this short poem from my father, and I’m sure it’s about a
>> Carolina Wren:
>> 
>> “I heard a bird sing in the dark of December.
>> 
>> A magical thing. And sweet to remember
>> 
>> We are nearer to Spring than we were in September.
>> 
>> I heard a bird sing in the dark of December.”
>> 
>>                           Oliver Herford
>> Maeve Kim, Jericho Center
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>> On Jan 13, 2021, at 8:58 AM, Sue Wetmore <
>> [log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>> 
>>> My Carolina wren was also singing which was a nature moment to savor.
>>> Sue Wetmore
>>> 
>>> Sent from my iPod
>>> 
>>>> On Jan 13, 2021, at 8:45 AM, Veer Frost <
>> [log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Almost unbearably moving in this distraught moment we are in.Veer
>>>> Frost, Passumpsic NEK
>>>> 
>>>> They have lost what is real (I Ching)
>> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Dr. Neil Buckley, M.Sc., Ph.D.
> Associate Professor and Chairman
> Department of Biological Sciences
> SUNY Plattsburgh,
> Plattsburgh, NY 12901
> 518 564 5165