MY BIRDS :)

Wow!  It’s been a while since I’ve written anything.  I seem to be in a writer’s “funk” – lots of stuff rumbling around in my head, but nothing finding its way to my fingers and my keyboard!  

We’ve been having some strange weather here, much like the rest of the country – nothing quite as dramatic though, thank God!  Today it’s gray, and drizzly, with a cold damp wind blowing.  I’ve been staring out at the angry ocean and noticed something that I see every day, but which still truly moves me – my birds!    

I’ve always been a bird lover.  Wherever we lived, I managed to hang a bird feeder somewhere.  They weren’t always successful.  Usually the squirrels reaped the bounty and the birds got the leftovers.  Whatever leftover seeds the birds didn’t eat grew into grass and weeds that I had to pluck and toss.  Ants took most of the hummingbird food and scared those gentle little creatures away.  For a while we even had free-range chickens until the local fox population got wise.  Our cute little hen Lucy (of Lucy and Ricky, Fred and Ethel fame) was snatched in broad daylight right under our noses.  That’s when the “Have a Heart” trap became a permanent fixture on our property.  I once found a bird tangled in our neighbor’s badminton net.  I untangled it, nursed it for weeks and, when I finally thought it had a fighting chance, I took it to a local vet. Supposedly, he was a specialist in wild birds!  He stretched the poor little thing’s wing all the way out and, while it bled on his table, pronounced him too far gone to save!  He died in my hand on the way home.  At least he had a few weeks of “home cooking.”

For the 19 years that we lived in DeLand, I kept a running list of all my “sightings.”  I am certainly not a qualified “bird watcher” – just a genuine bird lover.  We had generations of cardinals born there; the robins always blanketed our woods on their annual migration; we had our own owl that wintered in our large live oak outside the workshop; varieties of woodpeckers were everywhere along with the doves and the whip-poor-wills, the wild turkeys and the peacocks.  And every spring, a family of chipping sparrows made a nest in a hanging plant, outside my kitchen window.  We watched many young hatchlings take their first flight.  As a rule, birds are gentle creatures, with beautiful voices, and such graceful movements.  As I said, I love them!

Oceanfront cafe

Back to what got me to sit down and write today.  When we moved to this 6^th floor condo, I thought my bird feeding days were gone.  I’m not one to throw bread to the seagulls and watch them fight each other – all the while trying to dodge their messy output, shall we say?  And I never thought we could possibly attract birds to a feeder on the balcony.  Where would they come from? There are no little birds around here – or so I thought.  It took a while, but slowly they came. Little chipping sparrows – first one, then three, now sometimes 15 at a time.  They fly in every morning, scatter the seeds all over the balcony and into the nearby plants, eat until they’re stuffed and return again for dinner.  We have now added another feeder on the west-side balcony and it has become almost as popular as their ocean-front dining room.  Since we’re open all day, groups come through at all hours for a snack and a little socializing.

Rear Patio Dining

During some of our recent storms, we had moved the feeders back closer to the building.  They have discovered that, if they sit in and around the feeder, they are protected from the wind and/or rain.  Several of them have spent hours and even days hunkered down, staying safe and warm in our bird hostel.  With only sliding glass between us and our feathered friends, we now have a much better view of their antics than we ever have before.  It’s not unusual to have an entire flock of 15 or 20 fly in at one time, line up on the railing, and wait their turn to eat.  They still scatter the seeds all over, but now they eat every bit off the concrete balcony.  I sweep it occasionally, but there’s no weeding required now.  The squirrels aren’t interested in climbing 6 floors to steal the food, so it’s all theirs.  This past spring, we saw the courting rituals and then the young ones being fed at the feeder.   Hopefully this coming spring, we’ll see the next generation teach their young that we are open 24/7/365 – and we even have 2 seating areas and a lovely view while they wait for a table.

I can’t write about my sparrows without mentioning my “patrol” birds – the pelicans.  I had never seen these regal, graceful, elegant birds in such close proximity.  They fly by us like they’re on patrol – watching over us every day.  They play just barely above the waves and often spend long periods just maneuvering in and around the wind currents between the buildings.  Sometimes there are only 2 or 3 in a “patrol,” but we have often seen groups of 20 or more, all in elegant formation!  It’s not unusual for them to fly within 10 feet of us while we’re sitting on the balcony.  They are so awe inspiring and amazing.  Fred calls them my “boys!”

Rockhopper Penguin

Royal Tern

I never dreamed I would find so many birds here.  I knew I’d see seagulls, which, by the way, I have come to appreciate for their own unique beauty and resourcefulness.  But I’ve found others, lots of others, that amuse us and make us laugh.  The tiny little Sanderlings who run so fast on their teeny little legs; the graceful Snowy Egrets, who I like to call “Mr. Yellow Shoes;” the beautiful colors of the Ruddy Turnstones; the Willets with their stick-like legs; the little Piping Plovers who winter here; and my special Royal Tern who reminds me so much of the Rockhopper Penguins that I fell in love with many years ago at SeaWorld!  Both birds must have the same hairstylist! 

These are only a very few of the bountiful collection of birds that we have discovered here at the beach.  I was afraid I was losing my birds when we moved – instead I’ve adopted an entire new family! 

Life is so very good!  God bless you all!

SURVIVAL TIP FOR TODAY – When you’re in a “funk” – writer’s or otherwise – search for that special something that always moves you and touches your heart.  It’s there.  You probably see it every day