The garden is lush with the vigorous growth of late spring. Hawthorn is budding, amidst leaves that reveal (to me!) faces, the Green Man in miniature throughout the tree. In the hedge, tiny Chickadee perches on a blackberry vine, pecking at the underside of a leaf, zipping to another part of the shrub, and busying itself with the underside of another leaf.
I assume that the Chickadee is nibbling something, but what? Questions sift through me–what does a chickadee eat? Where does a chickadee nest? What do the nests look like, what are they made of? I imagine that if I passed good time out here by the Hawthorn, and watched my friend Chickadee, and attempt to follow him with my eyes, with my feet, I would in time learn his secrets. Or some of them.
I realize that I have learned many secrets regarding chickens from hours of watching and appreciating, and just getting to know the practical individuals that are chickens. Surely I could put in the same kind of curiosity, time, loving sense and learn about the chickadees.
Maybe you would like to do this too.
Watch Robin or Crow, Jay or Song Sparrow? Where may a little or large bird in your backyard lead you?
