I do a good bit of birding. Nothing overly special today. Most interesting birds were a couple of Great Egrets and a couple of Willow Flycatchers. Since the first of May, the most interesting (at least for my area) were:
Snowy Egret
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Veery
Black-capped Chickadee
Black Tern
Canada Warbler
Dickcissel
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Prothonotary Warbler
Least Bittern
Sora
Warbling Vireo
Ah! You ARE a real birder! And...a “Prothonotary Warbler”.
Are you aware of the role that bird played in a major news story in this country back around 1949-1950?
In case you were curious (or didn’t know) the Prothonotary Warbler had a key role in the perjury trial of Alger Hiss that year.
And Richard Nixon had a role in that as well.
During congressional hearings, Alger Hiss (Soviet Spy) had maintained he had never met Whittaker Chambers before (also a Soviet Spy who came out) and when it became clear that one of the two men had to be lying, Richard Nixon and his team arranged to meet with each of the men separately and ask them questions about themselves, then bounce them off the other person to see who was telling the truth.
During his interview, Alger Hiss talked enthusiastically about his bird watching hobby, and he bragged that he had even once seen a Prothonotary Warbler, which was quite rare in those parts.
When they got Whittaker Chambers, they asked him personal details about Alger Hiss, and asked if he knew if Alger Hiss had any hobbies. Whittaker Chamber said that yes, he was an avid birdwatcher and had even mentioned a bird called a Prothonotary Warbler...