Photo by Hooman Takbiri on UnsplashGrasping the phone, I use one trembling finger to push the record button on the Merlin Bird App. The green light turns red to assure me that the recording mode is engaged before flashing the message, “Listening for birds.” After a few seconds of detecting, this bird whisperer unfurls a brief avian list onto the screen. I had hoped for more companions, but the freezing wind carries few. I feel a bit like a Victorian medium asking at a séance, “Who is here with us?” But instead of in an overheated and heavily tapestried drawing room, I sit alone with the cold of a concrete hospital bench seeping into my bones. Soon, I will realize that I am surrounded by many winged spirits after all.
