Looking Over My Shoulder

I am wrapping up an edit of my fourth manuscript, The Nighthawk’s Nemesis. Editing and rewriting are lengthy processes which every writer undertakes as part of their craft. Glancing over past blogs, I found a reference to The Nighthawk’s Nemesis in April of 2021 when I was “knee deep in research as I begin a new novel.” This particular mystery hovers around birds and their watchers, better known as twitchers in the UK. Four years later, I’ve returned to the manuscript for a final rewrite. Apparently time does fly, just like the birds.
 
I learned a great deal about birds when writing this story and found myself carrying binoculars as I walked through the woods and along the shoreline. I even picked up a birder’s life list where I tracked which birds I spotted over time. Then I discovered an app for my cell phone called Merlin (offered through Cornell University) which amped up my bird watching skills and knowledge, making the hobby even more enjoyable.
 
Birds are beautiful, their songs uplifting. For me, the most entertaining aspect of birds are the whimsical collective names attached to each flock: a gaggle of geese, a brood of hens, a parliament of owls, a cast of falcons, a bellowing of bullfinches, a descent of woodpeckers, a drumming of grouse, a murmuration of starlings, an asylum of cuckoos, a prayer of godwits, a watch of nightingales, a convocation of eagles, a flamboyance of flamingos, a mischief of magpies, an unkindness of ravens, and a murder of crows.
 
Okay, I’ll admit it: The last one is my favorite.