Dumetella carolinensis

I took Ari out on his leash late this afternoon, just before the rain started. He became very much involved in sniffing a particular square foot of ground and then in eating grass. There was a lot of birdsong. I finally realized that all of it was coming from one place, somebody up in the mulberry sapling that has insinuated itself into the neighbors' peabush hedge. It was a robin, no, it was a house finch, no, dammit, it was a starling, what the heck was it, a bluejay, what? I finally caught sight of the miscreant. A gray catbird. I know their own song and call -- Raphael and I always saw them at Rice Lake State Park by the boat ramp, and we had a pair in the back yard the first year we lived here. And I know that catbirds are mimics. But are they that good?

http://birdsbybent.com/ch91-100/gcatbird.html#Voice

Apparently so, at least in the case of some random individuals. We've got a dandy one; I hope it sticks around.

Pamela

I used to live in Massachusetts --

-- and I didn't really like it much. But I wouldn't mind being there today, where, starting at midnight, same-sex couples are being legally married in droves. Suppressing a lot of incipient neenering and sticking-out-of-tongues in the direction of the people who didn't want this to happen, I offer my delight and best wishes to everybody getting married who couldn't have done it yesterday. May you be able to continue in peace.

Pamela