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‘Song of the Redwing: Voice of the Wetlands’ book: Prose, art and music take flight - OregonLive

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Red-winged blackbirds are easy to identify with their crimson-and-gold shoulder patch and distinctive “oopreeeeeom” croon. Ashland musician and author Tish McFadden has made paying attention to these abundant, soaring signs of spring even more interesting:

She wrote a song about them and in her new book, “Song of the Redwing: Voice of the Wetlands” (Black Rose Writing, $26.95), she invites everyone to notice them in their wild habitats.

McFadden hopes when people open her 44-page, illustrated book they will feel as if they are in a marsh and encountering dragonflies and bullfrogs, and seeing a lily pad as a “fragrant mooring for a warbler or trill” and katydids swinging “on horsetail trapezes.”

The book’s first words, in a rhyming couplet, “Red sky announces the birth of this day,” explain that the story will cover sunrise to sunset in an aquatic wonderland: “Redwing sleeps, still perched in the reeds, as his blanket of darkness slowly recedes.”

McFadden’s prose inspired artist Laura Winslow’s watercolor illustrations to reflect the diversity of life that co-habitats in harmony in marshland: Birds, fish and bugs along with trees, shrubs and grasses. Even spiders are elevated in her telling to “leggy architects of sticky lace.”

The red-winged blackbird was selected by McFadden to ease readers outside since these abounding birds can also be found in duckweed swamps and soggy roadsides as well as atop telephone wires.

McFadden recalls that it was the voice of a red-winged blackbird that stopped her young sons in their tracks long ago. They entered a pond knee-deep to experience “choruses of whistling insects and birds,” she writes.

“There’s a lot of life in there and a symphony of textures, colors, sound and light,” says McFadden, who has taught music at her Rum Tum School of Music in Ashland for 32 years. “It opens us up to an entire new world. Like ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,’ except this is very real and can make a lasting impact.”

McFadden makes something else easy to see: Her deep love of nature. She says checking out the underside of rocks and leaves, and stepping into the spongy bottom of bogs are part of her family traditions, shared from one generation to the next.

Her grandfather waited to propose to her grandmother until she could name a long list of birds in the wild. McFadden’s mother, Pat, a biologist who volunteered for 35 years at a Michigan nature center, not only introduced her children to trails, meadows and ponds, but also thousands of school kids who had not ventured too far beyond sidewalks and cement.

McFadden was an archaeologist for the U.S .Forest Service and her sons grew up backpacking in wilderness areas. Now she hikes with her granddaughter.

A section in her book describes the importance of protecting wetlands and the black-necked stilts and river otters, turtles and night herons and others who live there.

She says being in nature, “lets all the busyness of life go away for a little bit and allows young and old to just be there with water, Earth and sky, and these beautiful creatures.”

Darlene Betat, who has a Backyard Bird Shop, a “flock,” in Portland, Beaverton, Lake Oswego and Vancouver, Washington, says her favorite trait of red-winged blackbirds is how fearless and feisty they are as they watch over the marsh.

“They will readily harass herons, crows and hawks that fly over, diving repeatedly at the larger bird’s back to drive it away,” she says. “And should a rival dare to trespass their turf, they will gun after it in an unrelenting chase.”

Betat, who noticed a burst of interest in birdwatching during the start of the coronavirus stay-at-home orders last March, says red-winged blackbirds are hard to ignore.

“A displaying male is so conspicuous and striking as he puffs up his red and yellow shoulders to sing that even those just passing by notice him,” she says.

Like McFadden, she has found that birdwatching relieves stress and she says it has comforted people who felt isolated during the pandemic.

“Many who have switched to home offices have noticed the bird activity outside their window and are looking for ways to bring them in more regularly,” says Betat. “Parents are craving ways to get their children off electronic devices and retirees, who were accustomed to full and busy schedules, are looking for new ways to keep their mind and body active.”

By providing food, shelter and water, birds become regular visitors, making them more noticeable and observable, she says.

We asked Betat to recommend books and movies to learn more about birds. Here is the list she compiled with the help of friends:

Here’s a collection of classic books about birds as suggested by Betat’s bird-loving friends:

  • “Birds” by Kevin Henkes with illustrations by Laura Dronzek: A little girl watches birds from her window and dreams she can fly (Amazon)
  • “Birdsong” by author and illustrator Julie Flett: A girl, Katherena, and an older woman, Agnes, share the same passions for arts and crafts, birds and nature. But as the seasons change, can Katherna navigate the failing health of her new friend? (Amazon)
  • “Crow Not Crow” by Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple with illustrations by Elizabeth Dulemba: A father introduces his daughter to the joys of birdwatching (Amazon)
  • “Feather, Not Just For Flying” by Melissa Stewart with illustrations by Sarah S. Brannen: Young naturalists explore 16 birds in this introduction to the many, remarkable uses of feathers (Amazon)
  • “Have You Heard the Nesting Bird” by Rita Gray with illustrations by Kenard Pak: Hear all the different bird calls in counterpoint to the pervasive quiet of a mama bird waiting for her eggs to hatch (Amazon)

Betat says birdwatching out your window offers more activity than you’ll find on any screen. “April through early July is nesting season, which is action packed with breeding displays, territorial disputes, nest building and the eventual feeding of young,” she says.

It’s entertainment without commercials, she jokes. Still, she has two films she likes:

“March of the Penguins,” the 2005 French feature-length nature documentary on the yearly journey of the emperor penguins of Antarctica as directed and co-written by Luc Jacquet and co-produced by Bonne Pioche and the National Geographic Society.

“Winged Migration” is a 2001 documentary film showcasing the immense journeys routinely made by birds during their migrations as directed by Jacques Cluzaud, Michel Debats and Jacques Perrin, who was also one of the writers and narrators.

Amazon has bird feeding and watering supplies.

Chewy has natural bird food.

Home Depot has birdbaths and feeders.

Overstock has birdbaths.

PetCo. has wild bird supplies and birdhouses.

Pet Mountain has fitch stations as well as pigeon and dove seed.

Petsmart has wild bird food and outdoor feeders.

— Janet Eastman | 503-294-4072

jeastman@oregonian.com | @janeteastman

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