Eastern Wood-Pewee

This morning began cloudy and warm, and with the song of an Eastern Wood-Pewee. I was sitting at the breakfast table, and when I heard it, went out onto the deck. It was in the branches of the big White Oak beside the deck, and I couldn’t see it, but it continued to sing. It sang its “fall song,” of just the puh-weee part, over and over, but once it added a sweet, descending wheee-oo.

This is the first time I’ve heard its song in several weeks. Although Eastern Wood-Pewees used to sing throughout the summer in our neighborhood, sitting in the branches of pecan trees over shady yards, their lazy, summery whistles are now uncommon, and I think this one is probably stopping by here as it begins to travel south for the winter. For the past year or two, we have had an Eastern Wood-Pewee visitor each spring and each fall, and usually they stay for a few days. So – I’m happy to hear its song.