I think of the birds who visit the feeder outside my studio window this time of year as winter’s flowers.
Even though I rarely just sit and watch them, they keep me company with their movement, color, and sound, on the cold, dark days of winter.
There is their chirping of course, but there are other sounds too. A certain thump of communal wings when Blue Jay comes and all the smaller birds fly off together. And the woodpecker who came for the seeds, but makes his presence known by knocking on the back of my studio.
The Tree Sparrow sits selfishly on the feeder, chasing the other birds away. But the Chickadee makes quick flights, grabbing a seed behind her back and flying off to eat it in the Lilac bush.
The Dove and Junco eat what has fallen to the ground. And the Nuthatch joins the Woodpecker on the suet, only upsidedown. Only now, in February, am I seeing the Cardinals.
And the worse the weather, the more birds come.
When I posted the pictures of my Bird Potholders, I got a slew of emails. Everyone had a specific bird they wanted. And they had a story to go with their request..
One of my closest friends was raised Amish/Mennonite and chickadees were her mother’s favorite birds. I was thinking your potholder would be perfect for her in memory of her dear mother. The nuthatch is one of my favorite birds. They are always hanging upside down on my feeder outside my work window. Barb Z.
Just two days ago I was heading out to my Joyful Pause Cottage studio which is just twelve steps from my patio door and across the deck – I have three pine cones I keep loaded with peanut butter and seed, plus a hanging block of seed. Well, two little nuthatches were out there eating away in between their darling little chitter sounds. I slowly walked right by them and they didn’t even seem to mind my presence. It was so lovely to be so close to them! So this pot holder will now always remind me of that sweet encounter. Barb T.
“may my heart always be open to little birds who are the secret of living …” — e.e.cummings
Lovely Jill, thank you.
Love the bird pot holders! Is the predominately black one with the grosbeak still for sale?
Thanks.
Cathy
Thanks for asking Cathy, But they’re all sold. 🙂
This brought me so much joy to read the stories! Can’t wait to get my nuthatch potholder. And I love how you call the birds, winter’s flowers. That they are for sure! I’ll no doubt be sharing my potholder when I get it along with my story on my blog.
It was a joy to hear everyone’s stories, and I’ll look for your story on your blog Barb.
Before we moved to Delaware in 1992 I cared very little for birds and I knew less. In my early childhood We children lived on a farm in Lithuania for 2 years and a goose adopted me! It became my first pet. It also attacked my 2 brothers if they came near–which suited me just fine = no more hair-pulling or teasing.
So all my life I always said no birds smaller than a goose were of any interest to me.
Then we moved here, living on one of the main flight paths for migrating birds. Hanging up feeders for the first time In my life I began to identify and keep a list of the birds that came to us. This has now reached a total of 54 different kinds!
Also, we have a resident Raven pair which have been here for 3 years and have lost all fear of us. Twice one of them has perched on my shoulder which, to be honest, frightens me. He/she is so huge and so menacing-looking
All of this leading up to how excited I am to watch birds coming to our hanging Feeder and watching the ground feeders also. It is a new dimension to my very restricted life.
Your experiences with birds sounds like a fairy tale Erika. I’ve never heard of a wild raven landing on someone’s shoulder. I wish I had your “pet” goose when I was a kid. 🙂 and I love how you’ve come to appreciate birds as you got older. I’ve never been good at identifying birds, I’m impressed with your record.
I also love the white breasted nuthatches that run up and down the big maple tree right outside our kitchen window.
I am adding this note because I realize that I have been spelling your name wrongly; it is WULF not WOLF. I do apologize. I know how annoying this can be, too, as my name is often carelessly spelt ERICA!
Erika, when I changed my name to Wulf, which was my maternal grandmother’s maiden name, I thought of spelling it Wolf instead. But I didn’t think I was worthy of the name such a magnificent animal. Wulf with a “u” leaves me something to aspire to. 🙂
I like watching the nuthatches too!