BIRD BRAINS....

Over the past 19 years (gasp, YES, we've been in Campbell River, B.C. for that long!) these are some of the birds visiting my back yard.  I have a great view of the mountains, the rainforest, valley, and these birds ...

Black headed Grosbeak

"I would like to paint the way a bird sings...:" -Claude Monet

Nest gathering

"By coming and going , a bird weaves is nest.." -Ashanti

Mr. and Mrs. Finch

"You are a bird in flight, searching the skies for dreams..." 

                                                                                                                 -Haruki Murakami

White crowned Sparrow

"Tomorrow the birds will sing. Be brave. Face life..."

                         - Charlie Chaplin

Dove grey, always together...

"After the sharp-eyed Jay and the roaring Lion, peace will come on dove's gentle wing..." -Erin Hunter

Stellar Jay

"Nothing but the silence of the tree, and then he is gone.." -Mary Oliver

Annas Hum Hum

"Powered by its own life and its own motivation..." -Abdul Kalam

Flicker

"The birds of heavens dwell in the trees.." - Psalm 104:12

Grackles "Cowbirds"

"If birds glide for long periods of time, then why can't I?"_Orville Wright

Pileated Woodpecker

"A woodpecker's drilling Echoes to the mountain clouds.."

                                                   -Dakotsu lida

Towhee

"I like the idea of taking off like a bird...." -Florence Welch

baby sparrow, I believe...

"Are you my mother?" -P.D. Eastman

Varied Thrush

"Every spring I hear the Thrush singing in the glowing woods...." - Mary Oliver

Robin red breast

"The robin flew from his swinging spray of ivy on to the top of the wall and he opened his beak and sang a loud, lovely trill, merely to show off." -F. Hodgson Burnett

American goldfinch

"Faith without works is like a bird without wings; though she may hop with her companions on earth, yet she will never fly with them to heaven."-Francis Beaumont

Cooper's Hawk

"Only in silence the word, only in dark the light, bright the hawk's flight on empty sky..." -Ursula K. LeGuin

                     FLY...............

Pine Siskins

"I wake up every morning, free as a bird..." - Ashley Cole

Rufous Hum Hum

"I'm youth. I'm Joy..." - James M. Barrie


                                                          Eagles

“The Eagle does not escape the storm. The Eagle simply uses the storm to lift it higher. It spreads its mighty wings and rises on the winds that bring the storm.” – Jack White

Photographs 2025 All photos taken in Campbell River, B.C.
 

ONCE UPON A TIME.........

 ONCE UPON A TIME...........

 

Once upon a time it was a snowy day. The kind of day that you dream about. The kind of day that wintering birds like junkos, chickadees, towhees, finches, grackles, flickers and varied thrushes  do not dream about. It means hanging on to twigs for dear life.

 

It means sharing . Twigs. Covered in snow. It means finding seeds. Suet. And not sharing.

 

Perched high on her hill, sits White Cat. Watching. Waiting. Seeing all. Ohhhhh, it is good to be a cat.

 

Grackles cuddle with each other. Cold. Still fat from suet. A nice morsel for White Cat.

 

Grackles know when they have it so good.Branches. Suet swinging invitingly.

 

The others watch. Snow is deeper now.

 

                                    Swing Grackle. Swing in the Snow.

 

           White Cat  is a very clever little white cat. She leaves her warm home, toddles down to our yard where she promptly hops inside the greenhouse.

 

One or two windows are always left open so it will not get too “spongy” inside. White Cat knows that if she sits on the windowsill she can eye the birds to her heart content. Methinks the birds eye her, as well.

 

The snow is wet and sticky. Sticks to branches and twigs, crystals hanging …..beyond the forest is swathed in mist, snow lingering on thick pine branches.

 

Crows and eagles mix in the treetops. Weather is changing. Birds sit and wait.

 

                          And something else howls in the forest…..

Meanwhile, little White Cat decides it is time to find some of those lovely chirping fuzz balls, of which she is so fond. Unfortunately, the minute she plops herself down in her usual place, under the rhodos, the place is suddenly empty. Birds. Gone. While, little White Cat waits. Patiently. Like a ball of snow.

     And something, again, howls in the forest…..