Here we are, mid-April and everything is birds! Outside of our living room window, my partner
has hung five bird feeders. Some are on
the edge of the roof and some are in the big Sugar Maple. They offer sunflower seeds, corn and
suet. Below them is the roof for the
outside entrance to get under the house which is perfect for putting peanuts
and more corn on. The birds are joined on the roof by chipmunks and squirrels.
All winter we had Goldfinches in their seasonal olive
feathers. But now, the males have turned
bright yellow for mating season. Purple
finches, Ruby Crowned Kinglets, Common Redpolls, Evening Grosbeaks and an array
of sparrows; White Throated, Song, Fox and Tree, to name a few are all
migrating through the area and stop to feed.
The Dark Eyed Juncos, Chickadees and Blue Jays that we had with us all
winter now have to share the feeders with a roving band of Rusty Blackbirds and
Grackles who arrive like a motorcycle gang coming to town. These large black birds swing upside down on
the suet feeder and gobble down the corn as if they would never eat again. Woodpeckers go for the suet feeders as well;
Downey, Red Bellied and occasionally a Pileated which is way too large to hang
onto the feeder and eat. The White
Breasted Nuthatches like the sunflower seeds as do the finches and Chickadees.
Dozens of Red Winged Blackbirds trill their songs out in the trees around the
house. The ever present Crows play in
the wind, waiting for the egg laying season to begin. Occasionally a Raven’s groak can be heard
from way up high, or the warbling call of Sand Hill Cranes migrating through.
The intricately interwoven branches of the maples create a
multidimensional web of infinite perching possibilities. The birds navigate this matrix, flying from
branch to branch, sidestepping along horizontal ones and side slipping down
those with an incline. They are fluid
masters of their habitat. The whole
living web vibrates with energy and excitement.
It becomes a fractal as my mind recalls impulses moving along the
neurons of the brain, or particles moving through blood vessels, or sap rising
through the trunk and limbs of the tree.
As I stay in the moment and simply pay attention to what is outside of
my window, I connect with my own body and the wonder of life.
Every now and then Turkey Vultures soar by, or Trumpeter
Swans pumping their huge wings.
Occasionally a Bald Eagle does a magestic fly by as well. The Merlins are back in town, so the Robins
and Mourning Doves have to be on the look out for the aerial acrobatics of
these small falcons.
We can sit in our living room and watch this amazing
display through the big picture window, better than any TV screen. And that’s what we did on Good Friday as it
rained most of the day. During a lull in
the bird action, I checked my emails and read a disturbing one about how the
Ontario government is proposing to remove protection from endangered
species. Just one more attack from a
vicious premier left me feeling dispirited.
But of course, that is what politicians like him want us to feel,
hopeless and powerless so they can go about their dirty business unhindered.
So, we decided to get outside and go down to the lake to
connect with the life down there. There are thousands of birds who migrate
through this area. On Georgian Bay there
were Buffleheads, Common Mergansers, Goldeneyes and lots of Canada Geese. The Double Crested Cormorants and Ring Billed
Gulls are back as is our local Kingfisher and the Trumpeter Swans. I felt
better down there surrounded by the water and clouds, birds, trees and new
flowers pushing up through the earth.
Little purple Crocuses and Snowdrops were braving the cold wind. I
imagined myself connected to all of them and pictured myself connecting to
people who also value all the species, people who will speak out in support of
protecting endangered species instead of the monetary interests of developers.
Feeling somewhat better we began to walk back to the house
when we noticed a large number of birds swooping and diving in the sky. We could tell they were swallows by the shape
of their wings and their manner of flight.
There were hundreds of them. We
stood still and watched the flock move wildly through the air. The whole flock would circle away and then
appear again. They must be migrating
through and had found a swarm of newly hatched insects. It was so amazing to watch them fly wildly
without ever hitting each other yet staying as a flock and moving over the
trees and water and back again. We were
delighted by the magic of this fabulous show and followed the flock along the
edge of the lake. Later we saw them
flying just over the water still feeding.
We couldn’t figure out what insect would be hatching in the chilly
weather until a little black winged one landed on my partner’s nose. Then we knew.
Energized by the swallows we continued walking along the
lake, fed by all the life that was emerging from the water and the land. As we connected to all the life around us, we
no long felt powerless or hopeless. We
will look to find others who will speak out against this new assault on those
non-human life forms that we share our home with. The first person we met as we were watching
the swallows told us that he had bought some binoculars just to look at the
ducks and geese out on the bay. “This is
bird central,” he said with a laugh.
How rich we felt surrounded by these winged wonders. Not rich like developers. No, a much better kind of wealth. The wealth of finding our
place with all of life, not outside of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment