GREENE CO., MO. — I can count on one hand the bird species I encountered today. There was the tiny Carolina Wren bobbing among far larger shells on the porch. There was the chickadee I heard, once. And there were the starlings strewn across a damp and chilly sky.

I’ve been back just over a week now, and I feel cut off from the natural world, sealed up tightly in insulated, reinforced boxes. In PNG, I woke up to birdsong. The boundaries between outside and inside were porous; nature was much more present in my life.

But now, everything is different.

The weather is partly to blame, of course. It wasn’t 38 degrees with blowing rain in PNG.

Not that anyone in southwest Missouri is complaining about the rain. Yesterday, in my first real birding trip since I’ve been home, I was appalled by the state of Fellows Lake — or Fellows Pond if it doesn’t get some help.

I found a loon, but could not locate the reported Western Grebe. Oddly enough, I did find half a dozen Horned Grebes. Just as I suspected.

Cedar Waxwings swarmed in the hardwoods all along the lake’s north shore. Robins were plentiful too, and juncos. One by one, I picked out species I hadn’t seen for months: Red-headed Woodpeckers, a sapsucker, cardinals, and jays, bluebirds and chickadees.

Yes, it’s very good to see you all again, my friends.

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