Right now I am sitting in my kitchen on this Sunday morning. Drinking tea, looking out on nature, laptop in my lap.
I watch birds a lot. We have a wonderful big window that overlooks our forested backyard, and the birds are a happy show out there. I suspect it is a season of transition, because there is a higher-than-normal level of activity.
Many sightings this morning. I see chickadees, juncos, bluebirds, cardinals, robins, warblers, starlings and finches, jays and wrens, …and we have a sturdy nest of barn swallows (who are expecting soon). The swallows have made a temporary home right up close, perched beside the big window. We also have a two magnificent pileated woodpeckers who visit regularly, along with several downy woodpeckers, some flickers, and some red-bellied woodpeckers as well. They hop up and down on the trunks. When woodpeckers fly, they undulate up and down in a funny way that catches the eye.
Every morning the birds are busy and bustling. Here and there they go, zipping to and fro, doing their thing. They always mix up their flight patterns and branch landings, depending on the changes out there in the environment.
I notice that watching the birds helps me gather myself for a new day. Something about their vibrancy, and flight, and the community curiosity they seem to embody.
If I take this time to have tea while looking at the birds, my mind feels a sense of wonder, and peace, ..and things bubble up, internally. Small wisdoms, hopeful ideas, new reflections. And sometimes even new plans of action.
-Mia
Ps. Listening by the window in bed at night, I sometimes hear owls too.
Oh Mia, I loved this. I could “hear” your voice (both the physical and the sort of inner one?) throughout this. It felt really meditative. 🙂
I love that you said this Jennie. It took me just a few minutes to write, and I had intended it to echo my internal rhythms a bit. So thanks for letting me know it came across. What a joy to share glimpses of our lives, no?
Hi Mia, your writing and narration is very captivating and made me “see” everything – I was with you looking out of that window and watching those birds – I even in my mind whispered to you asking ‘How do you tell the different kinds of birds of the same species?” I visualized the woodpeckers flying ….
You have managed to take me back to my childhood where we lived in the Village there were all sorts of nests for many bird species. Some of the birds came to feed at the same time with our chicken – they kind of knew the feeding time. This is when I decided to follow a weaver birds as they made their nests from a single grass to something so complicated that I am still in awe of that process.
Thank you Mia 🙂
Irene,
We have this very old and “beaten” field guide to the birds sitting near a chair by the window, along with ome old binoculars. The heirloom book used to be my husband’s great grandmother’s book, and there are little pieces of old thin paper in it (tucked away inside the pages). These pieces of paper have my great grandmother-in-law’s sightings- she scrawled the names and years she saw certain ones. We (my husband, and my sons, and I) all refer to the bird book periodically to learn a new bird, or check on the ones we think we see. We often see “juveniles” that have different feather and color patterns, so we need to check to make sure they are a certain species.
So that is how I know many bird species.
xo-Mia