Spring is for the Birds

Everywhere I look these days, there are lovely little birds just begging to be photographed. So how could I deny them? Come bird-watching with me.

Everyone says that Robins are the first true sign of spring. This one just kept on singing so beautifully as I approached with my camera.

Many of us believe that it's the Red-winged Blackbird which signals spring. This one enjoyed the warmth of the bright sun in the clear blue sky.

A different day and a different blackbird, presumably. This one decided to leave his perch just as I snapped a shot.

On a day when we saw dozens of newly-emerged butterflies, my eye followed the movement of one which I thought was rather large. I lost sight of it when it flew into the bushes. Just as I shrugged it off, Frank noticed that it was not one of the many butterflies but a tiny bird, instead. It eventually made its way into enough of a clearing to get a good shot. This little guy is a Ruby-crowned Kinglet. If you look really closely, you can see the tiny patch of red at the back of his head.

The Common Grackle with its intense yellow-eyed stare is truly a beautiful bird. In shady areas they appear to be mostly black. But shine a little sunlight on them, and you see several shades of blue, purple and bronze.

Another lovely bird is the Eastern Kingbird. I spotted this one while walking around the field near Frank's place.

That same weekend, there were a number of Baltimore Orioles around the area. Their brilliant orange feathers sure do cause them to stand out against most any background.

Closer to home, I found these feathers among a pile of dozens more. I don't doubt that a bird's life came to an abrupt end at the claws, mouth or talons of some other creature. By the colouring, we figured it was probably a Mourning Dove.

But I know for sure that it wasn't one of the doves in this loving couple.

Thanks for bird watching with me. I'll have more photos in a few days.

Fine Feathers - Fine Birds

“It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds.” Aesop

“I am a feather for each wind that blows” William Shakespeare

I have small collections of feathers here and there throughout the house. This grouping sits upon a table in my front hall. The morning sunlight was streaming though the front door, highlighting their colours and markings.

"Seagulls... slim yachts of the element." Robinson Jeffers

This lovely creature posed nicely for me before taking off to soar overhead, circling the pond.

"Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird." Harper Lee

My friend, the Northern Mockingbird. I don't see him often but he has a way of appearing just when I expect him to. Isn't that accommodating of him?

There is nothing in which the birds differ more from man than the way in which they can build and yet leave a landscape as it was before. ~Robert Lynd

Looking up, as I often do, I saw these mourning doves peering back down at me. They're not the brightest birds in the flock but they sure are lovely.

“The present was an egg laid by the past that had the future inside its shell.” Zora Neale Hurston

I came home from my walk around the pond and glanced at a low branch of the pine tree which overpowers my small front yard. Perched ever so delicately was this small, vacated sparrow egg. It seems early for new hatchlings and I wonder if it's a leftover from last year.

“When arguing with a stone an egg is always wrong” African Proverb

Turning it over, you can see where the wee sparrow made its exit.

These photos were taken a few days ago when spring was in full swing. If you'd look outside my door today, you'd see a fresh blanket of snow covering the previously thawed earth. It fell all day long. Enough!