Feathered Friends

This place has been overrun with birds lately! Remember our new neighbor last year, the Oriole? He is back and singing up a storm in the trees and in the bush. He loves to dip his beak into the blossoms of the flowering quince, extracting the nectar like a perched hummingbird. I bought him some orange speckled suet. It's been fun watching his orange bottom half flip skyward as he hangs from the suet cage to feed! I hope he decides to build a nest here again this year.

We've seen other new faces around here lately. Last week I spotted a towhee for the first time. He seems to have become a regular in the yard now. I often see him perched on the bush waiting for a turn at the ground seed under the feeder. He seems to show up when there isn't a lot of action around the feeder. He must be a solitary bird.

I had a very exciting few minutes last Friday as my art student was leaving. We had just opened the studio door when we saw a flurry of bright blue feathers in the bush ahead. We just had time to realise what it was when it took off up the path and then skyward toward the neighbor's yard. I ran for the bird books. Since he was a smallish bird and did not appear to have a rust colored belly, we concluded he must have been an indigo bunting. Boy, was he beautiful! I had seen a bluebird in the early spring last year, during an unexpected snow storm, so I knew this bird was not the same shape, size, or shade of blue.

We have had an abundance of gold finches this year as well. We have seen them other years, but this year they seem to have multiplied. I can't keep the thistle feeder full! They drain it in about a day and a half.

The cats are loving our bird population too. Daisy Mae likes to sit outside on Shawn's lap and make little kitty noises at the birds. Her little 'indoor kitty" paws have never touched the ground. Shawn can lay on the lounge chair on the deck and fall asleep with her on his chest and she won't even move. She makes no attempt to leave the security of her Shawn while she is in "the big room." Truffle spends a good deal of his outdoor time across the street in the field of long grass, prowling like a lion on the savanna, but when he stays closer to home he is laying in wait under the feeders. So far he is too old and slow. I hope it stays that way! The birds don't see Percy as a threat, and well they shouldn't. He couldn't find his way out of a paper bag. Bless his heart!

I just love this time of year. The birds are so active, building nests and courting. The mourning doves chase their mates around the yard, more interested in frolicking than foraging. The windows and doors are flung open and the birdsong surrounds us and warms our hearts. New life. The eternal renewal of spring wings its song across the valley, echoing from tree to tree. In the glorious sunshine the harshness of winter is forgotten, like the labor pains of a new mom as she gazes into the eyes of her precious miracle. The earth has given birth to newness of life, to spring.