Jan Sneesby Aaron
"Sing a Pretty Song"
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| (Photos by Patrick Fraser) |
Spotting the first robin of the season is a sure sign of Spring. Robins are classified as songbirds and Illinois is home to hundreds of different species of them. I chose to recognize a few including Illinois’ state bird, the cardinal. Like the robin, it is classified as a songbird.
While many of Illinois’ songbirds are common, some are rare and on the Endangered Species List. Three of these are the Swainson’s and Cerulean Warblers and the Yellow Headed Black Bird. The last data I found reported that less than 250 of the species were seen in Cook County in 2010.
Creating an interesting visual of songbirds was straightforward. That left only one challenge as project guidelines were to create a two-dimensional piece. I thought a poem about songbirds would be perfect and I had my AHA moment when I realized, I know a poet! So I asked, and Bill Coughlin said, “Yes!” His “A Poem About Songbirds” really completes my project.