It seems as though spring has finally caught up! As the school year begins to wind down, the trees are full bloom, and the forests are once more echoing with birdsong. In many ways, this season is a blessing, but it can also be a curse, since its beauty is so short-lived. By the end of the month, all the tulips and trilliums will be dying, temperatures will be getting hot, and most of those lovely warblers will have headed somewhere further north. So for now, I've been enjoying spring while it lasts- the birds, flowers, weather, and everything.
Since this is the last post I'll be writing for the school year, I thought I would write about some sort of "big picture" where I draw from everything that I learned this past year and throw it together into one big statement.
However, I think that's kind of trite. Instead, I'll tell a more specific story.
Today, after an exciting bird-adventure at the Grove (Glenview), I decided to relax at home and study outdoors for my AP Bio Test. No sooner had I sat down in my favorite lawn chair, than a Black-and-White Warbler appeared.
Although this bird is hardly uncommon in May, it's got some unique qualities. Unlike other warblers, which flit from branch to branch, this bird creeps sideways along tree trunks, forages upside down, and likes to poke around in every nook and cranny it can find. Now consider its plumage- an assortment of black and white stripes- and it looks like a zany, tree-climbing zebra.
So I put down my homework and decided to watch this little wonder creeping around the trees in my backyard. He seemed a little wary of me, but couldn't have cared too much since he landed in my backyard pond to take a drink. At this point, however, another bird appeared- entirely golden-yellow with red streaks on the chest. It was a Yellow Warbler, and it too, had come down to drink from the pond.
After admiring the birds for a short while, I decided to get back to work. But just as I opened my textbook, two more warblers appeared. These were Black-Throated Green Warblers- birds that I lovingly refer to as "Blackbeards". I try studying again. Another Black-and-White Warbler shows up. Then two plump little yellow sprites: Nashville Warblers. A beautiful Magnolia Warbler appears. Then a Cape May Warbler. Three Yellow-Rumped Warblers. The trees and bushes are now dripping with them- shades of yellow, black, blue-gray, and orange. And then there's a tiny bluish bird with a fiery, liquid-sunshine pattern blazing across its chest. It's a Northern Parula- one of the rarer ones. As it pauses in a Japanese Maple, the sunlight dances upon its colors. And then, just as quickly as it appeared, it is gone. 
In any case, these birds were simply passing through. For them, my backyard is little more than a stopping point on their yearly journey from Canada to Central America. The stopover, however, is essential, for it is difficult for a 0.4-ounce to fly over 2,000 miles in a single month. For each and every day of migration, these birds must stock up on food, and for each and every night, they must fly.As I grow, learn, and graduate high school in the coming month, I feel as though I am completing another step of my own personal journey. Like the blossoming trees that provide migrating birds with sustanence, the Academy has done a great job in providing me with all the skills that I'll need as an adult. And even if Senior Academy English is just a small part of the migratory route, I feel that it has done me very well. In this year of English, I've flown through times good and bad, developed deeper levels of understanding, and learned some new things about myself along the way. And like the Parula, I am ready for the next leg of migration.
