Birds

Have I mentioned I’m a birder? No? Well, I am, sort of. By that I mean I’m not a “gung ho” kind of birdwatcher who travels great distances to see birds, or who spends hours behind binoculars watching for birds at home, or even one who spends a lot of money and time trying to attract birds to their yard. Basically what I mean is I enjoy watching them and trying to see how many different kinds of birds pass through our yard as the seasons go by.

I have three bird feeders out now along with four hummingbird feeders. Regular visitors to my yard include the Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Carolina Chicadee, Tufted Titmouse, Northern Cardinal, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, several species of Fly-catcher (they all look alike to me), Blue Jay, Brown Thrasher, American Crow, White-breasted Nuthatch, some kind of Wren (not sure if it’s a house wren or a Carolina wren), House Finch, American Goldfinch, Eastern Meadowlark, Robin, Eastern Bluebird, and the Mourning Dove. Oh, and of course, lots and lots of squirrels in my feeders!

The photo above is of a Barred Owl that hangs out around our house. In fact, there is more than one. We hear them fairly frequently. If you’d like to hear what an owl like this sounds like click HERE. This particular owl was sitting right behind our house on Sunday afternoon. I had been looking over at a feeder I put out on a limb just below where the owl was sitting when all of a sudden I noticed the owl. They are masters at camouflage. This guy sat there for at least 30 minutes and he kept falling asleep. I had time to go inside and get my camera and come out and take several photos of him. He did not seem to mind. Eventuallly he flew to the ground as if he was going to catch a mouse or something, but when he landed there wasn't anything there. He just flew down from the tree to the ground, swiveled his head around a few times, and then he flew off. I’m sure we'll see him again though, because like I said, we see and hear them fairly frequently.

We have had a few hummingbirds so far – but not too many. It’s a little early yet. In time we’ll have them fighting over the feeders we have situated around the house. I love to watch them set up their little territory and then bomb any intruder that tries to feed at “their” feeder. They are amazing little birds.

All in all, I feel close to God watching birds – actually I feel close to Him any time I’m out in nature. God is so creative and his creation so precious and beautiful!