Birds

A mama robin recently built a nest in a rhododendron bush about two feet outside our bedroom window.  We darkened the window all but a crack so we could watch her sitting there day and night on top of three baby blue eggs, and like expectant parents, couldn’t wait for the day they hatched.  We took daily videos of their growth and the mama’s comings and goings.  We watched them eat fresh worms, sprout feathers, preen, fight with each other, and finally, fly away.  It was a sad day for us all as that nest kept us entertained for a good month, anyway.

Fortunately, the hummingbirds are now back, in force, and their antics buzzing around the yard and chasing each other away from the feeder, brings a whole new level of entertainment to our lives.  As do the mother sparrows with their babies hopping behind them waiting for food.

The other day as I was watering the garden, a hummingbird came and landed on a rock about three feet away, so I turned the hose spray to a mist and it stuck out it’s wings, twisted it’s head and body here and there and looked like it was having a wonderful spring shower.  It went on for a few minutes and tickled me to no end to watch it preen itself and get all cleaned up.  Simple pleasures.

Some of the birdhouses around our yard have active chickadee nests so we watch the parents come and go and hear the little baby chirps inside.  Each day we listen to the mourning doves cooing and at night we sometimes hear the hoots of great horned owls.

The grosbeaks and goldfinches have also returned to our feeders.  There were six bright yellow male goldfinches all at one time on the feeder this weekend. It looked like a canary pet shop out our dining room window.  Varied thrushes also come in our yard two or three at a time and a wild turkey and three of its babies are hanging out along our driveway.  Kinglets often come in big flocks to flit about from bush to bush.

This all makes me wonder if I ever even noticed birds when I was in my twenties and thirties.  Where was my focus back then?  On my career? On adventures?  On figuring out life? Why has it just been lately that I take such delight in the plethora of birds in our surroundings?  I am at a stage where what I saw the birds doing that day becomes the main topic of our dinnertime conversation.   

Don’t tell me I’m old - tell me I’ve lived long enough to appreciate all the beauty in God’s creation. It’s laughable that I now qualify for senior citizen discounts at some places, but when I put two and two together and realize that in my younger days I didn’t give much thought to the birds, I know something must be up.  Perhaps it is my age.