SAIL THE SUMMER SKY (an Ode to Prairie Birds) - Song Page
© words & music by Annie Wilson
from CD Clean Curve of Hill Against Sky
Album Notes: This is an ode to six of my favorite tallgrass prairie birds: the Prairie Chicken, Upland Sandpiper (Plover), Meadowlark, Great Blue Heron, Killdeer, and Red-tailed Hawk. The eccentricities of each species make them delightful companions to those who spend time out on the tallgrass prairie.
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LYRICS:
The portly Prairie Chicken
does his dance across the lek
His orange cheeks and feathered fans
will show those hens who’s best
He booms across the prairie,
a feathered Flint Hills king
Then flaps his wings to glide away
into the prairie breeze
The pretty Upland Plover
stands on the fence post tall
& lifts her wings & starts to sing
her sweet high lonesome song
From the southern hemisphere she flies
from beaches white with sand
To raise her family in these hills
of bluestem prairie land
She’ll fly - - - - -
And sail the summer sky
Our melodic Western Meadowlark
he nests down in the grass
And hunts for insects in the Earth
then flies away so fast
The color of the sunshine
with a black tie on his chest
He sings his morning meadow song
to wake us from our rest
The gangly Great Blue Heron
steps her stilt walk cross the creek
Unhooks her S-shaped neck to catch
the minnows in her beak
Then spreads her six-foot wings to glide
down through that tunnel green
To her nest among the many in
the sycamore rookery
CHORUS
The daring little Killdeer
lays her eggs right on the ground
Their speckles camouflage so well
they seldom will be found
If you come too near she’ll do her best
to lure you away
She’ll drag her wing and cry out loud
to keep her babies safe
Oh the mighty Red-tailed Hawk
he skims across the sky
And his hawk eyes scan the prairie
beneath him as he flies
He’ll rise up with the current
on the warm wind take a ride
To float above the ridge tops
and sail the summer sky
CHORUS