Michael Yon has a new article entitled “The Birds of Baghdad” at Michael Yon : Online Magazine. The article starts out:
I love birds. Everywhere, I notice the birds; often I hear their voices before seeing them. To my ears, the most beautiful singers are the mockingbirds. I can listen to their songs for hours and hours, especially in the springtime, when the bachelors are courting and they sing all night during the full moons. In cities, lovesick bachelors often mistake a streetlight for the full moon, and perch in a nearby tree, singing their hearts out.
Some people cannot sleep to the mockingbird, but to me there is no sweeter song. When I hear a mockingbird in the spring, I’m reminded of Louis Armstrong’s famous song, “What a Wonderful World.†On those full moon nights, I think to myself that the mockingbird is singing, I love you. Eventually, a female hears the song, and one by one, pairs form, nests are built from twigs and bits, and the circle of sweet songs continues.
Louis Armstrong’s “Wonderful World” is a favorite of Damsel’s and mine.