Late one afternoon some years back as I walked up a street in rural central Texas, I came upon a Bewick's Wren singing crystalline notes while perched on a wire attached to a utility pole. I was a rapt audience of one. A strand of Beethoven's work came to mind, and that's how I learned to recognize the call of this species. When I heard a bird singing that string of Beethovian notes, I knew a Bewick's wren was near.

In the same way, one spring I came upon a Carolina Chickadee perched in a sycamore whose leaves were not yet fully unfolded. This tiny black and white headed bird belted out precise sounds that thrilled me. I still could hear the call a mile away - a creature so small with such a piercing reach.

Now, I haven't seen the movie since the late 1970s, but the chickadee's song reminds me of the melodic refrain in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Not an exact match, but it's what comes to my mind.

I've wondered since watching the Bewick's wren how many composers and troubadours from our past, before there were audio recordings of any kind, might have been influenced, perhaps unconsciously, by the trills and calls of birds and frogs and insects.


Here's a link to the movie soundtrack: Close Encounters of the Third Kind
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnYCboElgHs