Tag Archives: redbirds

HOMELESS IN SPRING

DSC_0460

Homeless in Spring

The cardinal’s feathers contrasted
sharply with the hedge bush.
He flitted noisily nearby
until the buzzing hushed.

In disarray, the bush fell
to the daisy-dotted ground.
A hand reached to gather the limbs,
then stopped at a soft, cheeping sound.

A nest of twigs and twine–
home of featherless bird babies–
once secure in the fork of the limbs,
now lay scattered in the daisies.

The cheep–cheep of the birdies
could no longer be denied.
The big man picked them up,
and with no one looking, cried.

© Freeda Baker Nichols

DSC_0193 (5)

DSC_0937

“Thy fate is the common fate of all, into each life some rain must fall . . .” Quoting from “The Rainy Day” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 – 1882)

 

 

BANNER MOUNTAIN GIRL#21

Pairs of birds

grackles, mourning doves, blue jays and redbirds

These colorful birds visit my yard often. The birds that I remember when I was a child at Banner Mountain were not the same as these.  They were mockingbirds, hummingbirds, sparrows, crows, hawks, owls and purple martins. My older siblings often told the story of how they would go look at a bird’s nest in an old tree. They said it was the nest of a “yellow-hammer” and it was built in an old “snag,” which meant it was in an old hollow tree. But I have no idea what kind of bird it was. My siblings went every day to see the baby birds. By researching, I’ve learned the yellowhammer is Alabama’s state bird, which is a northern flicker or yellow-shafted flicker. Or as one source says, they were birds with yellow patches under their wings. I can only imagine how beautiful those birds and baby birds must have been. I wish I could have seen them but they lived in the old snag tree before I was born. And to this day, I have not seen a yellowhammer bird. ~~Freeda Baker Nichols

mourning doves
mourning doves
grackles
grackles
blue jays
blue jays
redbirds
redbirds

Seeing Red

The wild things are not always wild.
Sometimes they seem quite tame.
They come each day to get some feed
and stay to play a game.
With patience Mr. Redbird waits
beneath the feeding tray
until Woody eats his breakfast
and quickly flies away.

© Freeda Baker Nichols