For the Birds

The view from Mom and Dad's dining room window varies from season to season, but some things never change. The trees are always there, sometimes fully leafed out, but mostly bare in the winter--except for the one oak tree that Mom says should have been planted someplace else. No one realized that that particular variety of oak wouldn't lose its leaves until spring, thus blocking the winter-time view. But, regardless, one other thing doesn't change: the birds are always there in the backyard.

Oh, the varieties change according to season, and some birds, like the gold finches and grosbeaks, only make an appearance during spring and fall migration. But the view from the dining room window is always interesting, and sometimes downright breathtaking when the sun is setting there, in the western sky.

The chickadees and nuthatches flock around the feeders, especially in the winter when Dad puts out multiple feeders with several kinds of seeds, so every kind of bird will be well-fed. As summer approaches, Dad removes most of the feeders, because the cardinals and blue jays can find plenty of food in the surrounding pastures. But we can still watch the robins and wrens that gather around the birdbaths for a drink or a quick splash in the cool water.

These lovebirds never leave.

Dad assembled this birdbath from found items.

A bluebird house on the fence.

When I walk around the yard, I am always pleased to see the birdhouses being used by the industrious mama birds and their little fledglings. Dad found some of the birdhouses at auctions, but he built many of them himself. Some birdhouses are made especially for the wrens or bluebirds, but others are open for the first bird of the season, regardless of rank or species.

There is just something about this rustic, whimsical one...

Dad built this replica of the house he grew up in.

When I was growing up, my family hiked throughout the countryside around Fairbury, observing ducks and geese, hawks and meadowlarks, in their natural habitats. We had no choice, since we had no place to install a bird feeder at the hotel where we lived. But even then, Mom saved scraps of bread for us to take with us to Crystal Springs so we could feed the ducks.

When Mom and Dad moved to their acreage, Dad was excited to be able to raise chickens. He kept some Muscovy ducks, too, for a while, but their bad habit of relieving themselves on the front porch meant that their time on the acreage was limited.

The chicken house sits empty now,
 patiently waiting for a new batch of chicks.

Some birds are more valued than others. Here in Gering, we have more grackles than we would like, and the turkey vultures, though mesmerizing to watch as they circle over the town, are really rather gruesome. I am always thrilled, though, to see a pheasant or two beside the road, or even a wild turkey in the ditch from time to time.

The turkeys don't always show up in Mom and Dad's yard,
but this year a daring mother turkey brought her chicks up to the back deck
 nearly every day to scratch for some stray seeds.

Later, I followed the fearless turkeys through the pasture,
along the freshly mowed path.

*******************************

When our girls were small, we hung a bird feeder in our backyard, but we soon found that Gering doesn't attract nearly as many varieties of birds as Fairbury does. Or, it's just as likely that the birds didn't trust the dog that frequented our backyard. Now, a few birds bathe themselves in our pond, and a few more build nests in our birdhouses, but I have to look at my sculptured, metal birds if I want to find anything other than robins and sparrows, and an occasional dove, in my yard.

Real or not, I love those cranes!

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Matthew 6:26