Black capped chickadees embody avian joy.

 


There are few birds present during the winter that elicit a sense of joy more than what chickadees can.  Always active, flitting from perch to perch, they busy themselves with the task of foraging.  It's not only the way that they go about this which embodies a sense of delight, it is the cheerful twittering that accompanies it all.  

I was out for a walk yesterday with my camera enjoying a brief hiatus from the otherwise frigid days that have plagued western Canada this year.  It's hard to enjoy nature when you can't feel your face and your fingers are like the icicles that hang from rooflines.  Trekking along a riparian woodland path, I was pleased to hear the familiar sounds of happiness from active chickadees.  They were busy gleaning morsels from branches, taking seeds from feeders, and singing away from their lofty perches.

You usually don't find just one chickadee by itself.  They tend to congregate in small flocks when it's not the breeding season; they benefit from having numerous eyes on their surroundings and for finding places where feeding is good.  Scanning for food and predators as they work their way through an area, they also lighten the mood and heart of anyone nearby.  How can you witness their movements and songs and not be so affected?

They remind me that spring isn't so very far away.  They have survived the cold and dark winter and still embody the joyful ball of feathers that I have always known.  For me, it was a good day; I witnessed the song and dance of chickadees.

Thanks for reading.   www.ericspix.com








Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I found a black widow spider in a plant pot today

Image
The spider I found is a western black widow spider, one of three species of black widow that occur in North America.  The fact that this one has another red patch on the back of its abdomen above the spinnerettes tells us that it is an immature individual. The one thing that people know about black widow spiders is that they are extremely poisonous.  Their venom is something like 15x more toxic than that of a rattlesnake.  The saving grace is that there is very little venom injected from a black widow bite than what a rattlesnake can deliver.   The good news is that black widow bites seldom lead to death.  You are more likely to suffer nausea, muscle pain, and swelling around the bite.  Symptoms usually last only 12 hours or so.  Death may be a result in people with compromised immune systems or in the very young or the elderly.   In 2018, it was reported that there were 1015 cases of people bitten by black widows.  Of those, there ...
Read more

The passing of a generation

Image
Kathryn's mom and dad with our children, Josh and Leanne. A generation, for North America, tends to be between 20 and 30 years.  During that time a couple will give birth and raise children to see them repeat the pattern as they themselves have done.  Each generation has its own set of standards, values, and ideals based upon their experiences and culture, and some of that is passed down to their offspring.  What changes are the life experiences of the following generation and the new customs and ideals that are blended together as a couple becomes a family. Kathryn's mom passed away a few days ago, she was predeceased by her husband several years ago.  Both of them were the grandparents of my children, the mother and father of my wife, Kathryn.  It was my pleasure to know them and to love them as my own, for to me they were Mom and Dad.  And they were there to welcome my children into the world just as my children were with them in spirit when they left it...
Read more

Hang in there, things will get better.

Image
The Svendsen Family - Eric, Samuel, Leanne, Joshua (top row), Nora, Kathryn, Chanelle, Emma If I could go back, in my mind, to a day in my life when I was really down, it would be nice to be able to see into the future.  If could see things as they are today, with the many blessings that have been given to me, it would give me hope knowing that things wouldn't always be so discouraging.   The message here is we do not know what the future holds.  When things are bad, it is hard to raise your head out of the mire to see beyond the darkness.  There are no guarantees, of course, that things will be better, but I think it is true that fortunes ebb and flow as tides do.  The trick is to see beyond the low points and not be too haughty during the high ones.  I know that, at this moment, things are very good.  What the future holds is unknown, but low and high points are likely in the forecast.   This is why taking satisfaction from the moment ...
Read more