Nature in all its forms is inspiring. From the deepest forest to the tiniest flower. The moss beneath your feet or that feeling of the seasons changing. Nature’s symphony and all its ensemble is a constant inspiration.

Phenology is the study of the timing and cyclical patterns of events in the natural world, particularly those related to the annual life cycles of plants, animals, and other living things.

And if “other living things” is pointing to the bluer than blue Indigo Bunting singing about a “fire, fire, where? where? here! here! see it? see it?” then this bird is the pièce de résistance for phenology. And they aren’t actually blue, by the way.

July 2023 was the high time for this songster to perch in the pine outside our window and sing according to my photo library. Apparently, in 2024. The same is true. As he sings most every day, and well into dusk. *Until of course, the season comes to a close and he must leave to head back south.

While this bird, a year apart, is probably not the same exact male, (but there’s a ghost of a chance), a repertoire that gets more dynamic as the summer draws on. He loves to sing from the highest tree defending his edge o’ the woods territory while the female (rarely if ever seen) sticks around, usually lower in the underbrush. Her nest is only a few feet off the ground. By now the nest is likely empty, but for a few more weeks at least, our meadow will be filled with song. It even seems like he is adding a new little tune to the end of his ballad. Carry on, lad. You sing a song a minute from dawn to dusk practically, and I wouldn’t change a thing. Perhaps you are a youngster learning your own tune in this song neighborhood, but apparently you learn from other buntings, not your father. Cool blue. Even cooler, you navigate by the stars.

A few years ago I didn’t even know what an Indigo Bunting was. And I certainly didn’t know the meaning of phenology. And yet, here I am finding the smallest things grabbing my attention, even 365 some odd days apart. The patterns of nature, guided by the moon I guess, are kind of astonishing.