Birds
February 21, 2015 9:03 pm 3 CommentsIf you want to get over the blahs of winter get yourself a bird feeder, or, better yet, several bird feeders. There’s nothing like seeing black-capped chickadees, white-breasted nuthatches and hairy woodpeckers out your window. I’m naming only a few of my winter visitors. The picture of a male cardinal perched on a pine bough covered with snow—well it’s breathtaking. Even on the coldest days I brave the wind and chill and make sure my feeders are full. I can’t betray my feathered friends.
I must admit that I am partial to the eastern bluebird. Yes, I woo them with cranberries, suet and mealworms, and get this, I even waste time staring at them. I even talk to them, “Good morning, you are beautiful. Please keep coming. You look like the sky and the sunrise in one package.”
My Birds of Pennsylvania book says, “The feathers of the bluebird are not actually pigmented blue.”
“Wait, what are talking about? Of course a bluebird is blue.”
No, it says, “The shiny blues are produced by iridescence.” And it goes on to say, “The dull blues are a result of the same reflective process that produces the blue of the sky.”
Well, there you have it. Don’t ask me to explain it. I just know that something miraculous happens and the birds as far as my eye can tell, are blue, beautiful blue. Doesn’t it make you want to praise the Creator in a whole new way when you realize the uniqueness and beauty of each bird?
And where is that verse in the Bible about the sparrow? If I recall correctly, it doesn’t say that the sparrow never falls. It says that when it does fall, our Father knows it. Now there’s something else for which we can praise God. He knows. Isn’t there something in Psalm 139 about him knowing when I rise and when I fall?
But here I am getting into my sermonizing mode again. I’m just glad that He knows about birds and He knows you and me through and through. I hope that makes you glad as well!
Here’s a quote from Timothy Keller,
“To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial.
To be known and not loved is our greatest fear.
To be fully known and truly loved is what we need more than anything.”
Now if you’ll excuse me I see that the feeder out front is almost out of sunflower seeds. I can’t betray my feathered…whoops, I already said that.
Click here to watch my feathered friends grabbing a meal before a snowstorm.
Aren’t they beautiful?
3 Comments
I enjoyed your stories. I do watch birds also and love it. Interesting about the bluebird. The day one of my grandsons was born a bluebird came to the feeder and from then on I give him bluebird things. I call it the Bluebird of happiness.
So good to hear that you’re also a birder! My Grandfather drilled me with his Audubon bird cards and took me on bird walks… I am so very grateful he did!!
The bluebird is also one of my favorites, but alas not a resident in my urban Michigan neighborhood. I read somewhere that at least one native american tribe called it the “bird with the sky on his back.” To me the iridescent blue feather structure is just one more proof of God’s design; what possible evolutionary survival-of-the-fittest could explain it?! The blue jay is another bird that sports iridescent blue plumage; it literally screams, “Look at what God made special!”.
PBS regularly features films of the “birds of paradise” (well named!) that feature fantastic displays of their iridescent plumage… Have you seen these? Also, did you see such birds in Papua New Guinea?
… And how about butterflies and beetles with iridescent coloring? The fact that such iridescent structures separately “evolved” in butterflies and beetles is just one more proof of creation.
I too have been out in all kinds of weather making sure our feathered friends have plenty of food! One day when I was feeling “blue”, I looked out and saw 5 cardinals sitting in the tree by the feeder. What a smile that brought to my face and my heart, as I said “Thank you Lord”….what a treat!