Return Of The Redwings Poem by Francis Duggan

O'er hills and fields and moonlit rural town
The redwings in their thousands journey down
From cold northlands to southern places bound
Again they fly back to their wintering ground

In early November I can still recall
In colder weather towards end of the Fall
Of hearing redwings in the starry sky
The migrant thrushes give voice as they fly.

On their arrival they seem wild and shy
But they grow tamer as the days go by
And later on in weather cold and hard
They even venture into the back yard.

As boys on dark and windy winter night
We went to hedge where redwing roost with spotter light
In hope to capture one to put in cage
Youth has it's fling and wisdom comes with age.

But despite the wind our footsteps they did hear
And the redwings flew off as we ventured near
And though we never had the joy of capturing one
To school boys bird lamping was always fun.

O'er hills and fields and moonlit rural town
From cold Northlands the redwings journey down
On Autumn nights you hear them in the sky
As towards their southern wintering grounds they fly.