And Your Bird Can Sing
It’s April 16th and the butterfly count is two. Both were yellow swallowtails. The mountain bluebird count is one. The forsythia blooms have come and gone and now I’m waiting for dogwood petals to wax full, like the moon.
The sound of an airplane overhead makes me homesick for my Hull, Massachusetts hometown peninsula, where the planes regularly fly in and out of Logan. Blue jays are common there like red cardinals are here. I bird watch and listen to birdsong as an antidote to following the national news. I’m waiting for the bird from last year that my grandson Liam called “the most beautiful bird I’ve ever seen,” a rose-breasted grosbeak.
The chickadees, titmouse and nuthatch that live here year round are not afraid of me. The purple and gold finches, and even the bossy cowbirds, are more skittish, so I mostly watch them from the window inside the house.
When the squirrels raid the birdfeeder, I chase them with a broom like Mr. McGregor chased Peter Rabbit with a rake. The towhee is back and the robins are aloof. I’ve taken to calling the mourning doves “cry babies.” It’s funny how purple finches are really red and redbud trees are more purple-pink than red.
_______Our World Tuesday
April 16th, 2019 1:58 pm
We got a new half-inch of wet snow this morning. Fortunately, by 2PM we can see the ground again, though there’s no green yet;, no finches or chickadees, either. Soon. Soon.
April 16th, 2019 7:58 pm
Red and purple are in the eye of the beholder! That grosbeak is going to get the same reaction from Liam when he is as old as I am! It’s a great bird. It’s so great that your grands enjoy them with you!
April 17th, 2019 6:43 am
To grow up adoring the little birds is a wondrous thing – he’ll go far!
Wren x
April 20th, 2019 11:55 am
Beautiful picture. I watch for Steller’s Jays in my backyard. A flash of vivid blue always brings a smile.
My blog post features a hike in the “Issaquah Alps,” Washington State, USA.