Corey and the Raven

 By Richard B. Primack with help from ChatGPT

Over the past few months, my colleagues and I have consulted with Corey Callaghan (University of Florida) on statistical techniques for combining eBird citizen science data with historical data from Thoreau and others to detect the effects of climate change on the timing of migratory bird spring arrival in Concord. The following is a poem about our decision to invite Corey to join our group. The first draft was written by ChatGPT and then revised by me. 

 

In confused thought, 'neath COVID's hazy cloud,

I climbed Seminary Hill, where gloom enshrouds,

A dusk of gathering tempest, rain's threat unfurls,

Mind entwined with mysteries, Thoreau's dark twirls.

 

A spring bird enigma, warblers concealed in shade,

Migratory notes sought, a riddle displayed,

Observers like Brewster, Griscom and more,

Birds seen centuries past, records to explore.

 

Photo 1: Henry David Thoreau recorded bird arrival times in the 1850s. Source – National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

Rosey Corey, from recent decades now gone,

And now eBird's chorus, a modern song,

Could all combine, both present and yore,

Showing how time changed Concord birds’ travel chore?

 

Photo 2: eBird observers are making modern observations. 

 

In shadows I pondered, the statistical abyss,

Seeking insight, a guide in the mist,

Perhaps Corey Callaghan, with methods so bold,

Using subsampling lists, climate’s keys could unfold.

 

Photo 3: Corey Callaghan from the University of Florida.

 

Or another modeler, with stochastic grace,

Climate change effects, might better embrace?

Questions arose, trust hung in the air,

Seeking a savant, to unravel the snare.

 

As church spire neared, atop that steep knoll,

A sight gripped my soul, a tale to extol,

A raven, solitary, on steeple it swayed,

Wind's fierce caress, in dance it displayed.

 

Photo 4: A raven provides the answer. 

Midst tempest's lull, a mournful refrain,

Answering my quandary, a voice to explain,

"Caw!" it crooned, a spectral reply,

"Corey!" it whispered, the enigma unveiled nigh.

“Corey!” again, secrets since Thoreau’s Concord of yore,

Unlock and reveal evermore.