I always say I am going to write a blog post, and then, I never do. I let Thanksgiving, and Christmas and New Year's Day all go by without posting. Sometimes I feel like I don't have anything new to report. Yes, I'm thankful, I had a nice Christmas, I'm looking forward to 2018. I have taken pics of snow and Jordan (senior pics), and more snow, and LOTS of birds. Most of those are usual things, except for the senior pics of my youngest....sigghhh.
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| I love my boy |
Still, sometimes I feel like I don't have anything new or earth-shattering or funny, or entertaining enough to blog about.
It's because I forget stuff once in a while. A friend just reminded me of this....of the great Mystery that is our life on this planet.
This is an irruption time. Not eruption....that big caldera out in Yellowstone is still there, doing what it's been doing, and not drastically and suddenly changing life on the planet forever...yet. That is another mystery over which I have no control and so try not to obsess about.
This irruption, happening here, right now, is of birds from the north.
The word itself literally means a violent invasion, but in an ecological sense means a sudden increase in population, which might be brought on by something like lemmings.
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| not my picture: Image credit: Sander van der Wel CC BY-SA 2.0 |
Other times it's brought on by an abundance of another type of food source, or a change in weather patterns. Whatever makes it happen, I have seen a LOT of irrupted birds so far this season. And I just want to say, I LOVE THEM.
First ones I noticed were the Common Redpolls, which are really not common to me at all. They are tiny birds, smaller than a sparrow with a dark red but iridescent spot on their poll...er...head.
They make a little sewing machine motor sound which is really noticeable when there are hundreds of them in your yard, pillaging the bird feeders as these little ones have been doing in this cold weather. The girls are streaky and a bit more nondescript...
...than the boys, who have varying amounts of blushing pinky red on their chests.
In spite of this beautiful blush, these birds are not showy in their actions, mostly because they spend nearly all of their waking hours grazing on seeds in big herds, like teeny cows.
Nevertheless, I love to see them outside my window, and take many pictures of their cute little selves.
Next in order of awesomeness are the Pine Grosbeaks. There have been about eight of these hanging about at the feeder, on the ground, or in one of the two spruce trees by our driveway. They usually look a little pear shaped and a bit puffy, which, along with their Cleopatra winged eyeliner, makes them easy to recognize. The best thing about them, though, is their color. They manage to take a bright color like beautiful crimson and rich gold and mute it down with some VERY trendy gray. The result is stunning, both for boys and girls.
The third, and somewhat miraculous irruption is taking place something like 20 miles from us, which Bob discovered by chance and to his delight a few weeks ago. Snowy Owls, Bubo scandiacus, otherwise known as those big white owls that look like Hedwig in the Harry Potter!
Amazing Birds....just saying. Amazing.
Did you know that a flying owl makes no sound? Snowys are usually about two feet high, with a wingspan of something like four and a half feet. They only weigh a little over four pounds, and when they fly, it is a beautiful silent and totally graceful flurry of white angel wings.
They are amazingly stoic and will pose nicely for photos if you try to be polite to them, stay in your car, and crank out your telephoto lens.
Has to do with spending their important summer nesting season far north in arctic tundra lands with few predators, loads of free lemmings and no people to speak of. In an irruption year, they come south in great numbers in the winter to grace us with their presence and hopefully feast on lots of our tiny furry animals. Once you find them, they are easy to find again, as they often seem to stake out a territory, find the best lookout spots, and keep their eyes open for their next meal. Unlike other owls, they are active in daylight since that is all there is in the 24 hour summer days in the arctic.
Anyway....birds....
I know I talk about them a lot, but to me they are so much more than their beauty and uniqueness and enviable flying abilities. They are a symbol of everything, EVERYTHING that blesses us in this world.
We talk about birds being graceful, and I think they are in all ways..full of grace. After all, God's eye is on them, sparrows and all. See....I have this kind of anthropomorphic story idea of God and birds, where He looked at those dinosaur-y not quite bird type creatures He'd created and suddenly realized their potential to become the miraculously varied infinitely inspiring creatures they could be....and so they were...and so they are. Filled with and imparting their grace to us with their beauty and variety and their effortless ability to leave this earth and soar into the heavens. Talk about a symbol, right? God is good!
That's what I forget sometimes. And it's always sometime to write about. God's grace is all around us, all the time. I hope you can see it, too. Maybe a little bird can help you.
Amen.
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| a flock of redpolls is referred to as a "gallup" which I think is a realllly bad pun |
They make a little sewing machine motor sound which is really noticeable when there are hundreds of them in your yard, pillaging the bird feeders as these little ones have been doing in this cold weather. The girls are streaky and a bit more nondescript...
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| girl |
...than the boys, who have varying amounts of blushing pinky red on their chests.
 |
| boy |
In spite of this beautiful blush, these birds are not showy in their actions, mostly because they spend nearly all of their waking hours grazing on seeds in big herds, like teeny cows.
 |
| usually making friends with a few goldfinches along the way |
Nevertheless, I love to see them outside my window, and take many pictures of their cute little selves.
Next in order of awesomeness are the Pine Grosbeaks. There have been about eight of these hanging about at the feeder, on the ground, or in one of the two spruce trees by our driveway. They usually look a little pear shaped and a bit puffy, which, along with their Cleopatra winged eyeliner, makes them easy to recognize. The best thing about them, though, is their color. They manage to take a bright color like beautiful crimson and rich gold and mute it down with some VERY trendy gray. The result is stunning, both for boys and girls.
 |
| boy |
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| not sure....strange color |
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| girl |
The third, and somewhat miraculous irruption is taking place something like 20 miles from us, which Bob discovered by chance and to his delight a few weeks ago. Snowy Owls, Bubo scandiacus, otherwise known as those big white owls that look like Hedwig in the Harry Potter!
Amazing Birds....just saying. Amazing.
Did you know that a flying owl makes no sound? Snowys are usually about two feet high, with a wingspan of something like four and a half feet. They only weigh a little over four pounds, and when they fly, it is a beautiful silent and totally graceful flurry of white angel wings.
 |
| LOVE the fluffy talons |
Has to do with spending their important summer nesting season far north in arctic tundra lands with few predators, loads of free lemmings and no people to speak of. In an irruption year, they come south in great numbers in the winter to grace us with their presence and hopefully feast on lots of our tiny furry animals. Once you find them, they are easy to find again, as they often seem to stake out a territory, find the best lookout spots, and keep their eyes open for their next meal. Unlike other owls, they are active in daylight since that is all there is in the 24 hour summer days in the arctic.
 |
| youngsters and girls are less white |
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| LOVE this beautiful boy! |
Anyway....birds....
I know I talk about them a lot, but to me they are so much more than their beauty and uniqueness and enviable flying abilities. They are a symbol of everything, EVERYTHING that blesses us in this world.
We talk about birds being graceful, and I think they are in all ways..full of grace. After all, God's eye is on them, sparrows and all. See....I have this kind of anthropomorphic story idea of God and birds, where He looked at those dinosaur-y not quite bird type creatures He'd created and suddenly realized their potential to become the miraculously varied infinitely inspiring creatures they could be....and so they were...and so they are. Filled with and imparting their grace to us with their beauty and variety and their effortless ability to leave this earth and soar into the heavens. Talk about a symbol, right? God is good!
That's what I forget sometimes. And it's always sometime to write about. God's grace is all around us, all the time. I hope you can see it, too. Maybe a little bird can help you.
Amen.
