A mystery impression
Wing print
The after-midnight hours brought a dusting of snow. Every thing sparkled when the sun came up, and though that scene was photogenic enough, I was interested in another kind of impression. There were plenty of good tracks left by the night visitors, and a number of them told interesting stories. But my favorite was this one: a genuine mystery. It was, to be sure, the delicate tracing of a bird wing. Perhaps it's the record of a landing; perhaps it recorded a take-off. Since there was no sign of blood nor commotion—and no cat tracks—I don't see this as a last-will-and-testament. My guess is that the flier had simply stopped for the briefest of moments under our holly tree. Maybe the bird was retrieving some berries that it had dropped before taking flight.