Surprised by Meadowlarks

My first Eastern Meadowlark of the year was this weekend, and I got treated to great views and songs at two different locations in the county. I was suffering from what I thought were spring allergies (no fever, negative 19 tests, all that), but it may have been a spring cold, because, now Brian has the sneezes and stuffy head and chest. Poor guy. I still tried to get out as many days as I could this last week because generally, the more I was up and moving around, the better I felt, but dang was it cold and windy this weekend.

Above Image by Johnny Gunn from Pixabay

The weekend also brought Northern Shovelers to my county list and the sighting of my nemesis bird this year, the snipe! Yes. It exists. I know it’s a joke, and my own brothers have played it on me. That old story where they leave you somewhere in the dark with a bag and a flashlight. They told me to just snap the bag with my fingers periodically and say, “Here, Snipe! Here, Snipe!” Meanwhile, they ran off to get into whatever trouble older brothers can get up to. Have I already told you this story? Probably.

The prank probably has its history in the fact that snipes really are difficult to find. But they are not out at night on the edge of a campground parking lot, that’s for sure. They like wet grassy fields, if a stream is soaking up a farm field with tufts of grasses all around, you’re in business. My friends Jessie and Bryce both found them at this particular field where, even with their help, the birds eluded me. Finally one showed up while I was watching the meadowlarks and I was overjoyed. I never would have seen the little bugger had he not lifted off from the grasses on one side of the road to land in the field on the other. There he/she completely disappeared. Check out their camo and that bill!

So, my friend Joel and I were looking for Meadowlark songs last night and I was surprised that there were so many. There’s Adam Young, the guy from Owl City, who released his latest album, Coco Moon, just one year ago. You probably know him best by his electronic magic in “Fireflies.” Coco Moon goes a more spiritual route than his previous albums and includes an old story about two enemies who meet in a field and show each other mercy because of the Meadowlarks singing. You can hear that song here.

Fleet Foxes, who we heard from earlier this year with “White Winter Hymnal,” has a haunting tune called “Meadowlarks.” I found a cool live performance, but the shaking of the cell phone video of the was disconcerting. They’ll be in Harrisburg in June, and now I’m thinking of maybe going.

But the one I’m featuring today is from a maybe obscure musical called The Baker’s Wife. Here it is sung by Lindsay Mendez who played Elphaba (“Gravity”) on Broadway. Her voice is just so amazing. Thanks for the suggestion, Joel! I hope you enjoy this Monday Musical feature of “Meadowlarks.”