Monday, September 16, 2013

Birds of a Feather

By Vivienne Lorret

Today feels like an official fall day. The air is cool, the breeze fragranced by the faint perfume of clematis winding through my neighbor’s fence. Nearby, the bird feeder seems like the only show in town.

Flocks of wrens, finches and robins descend en masse to that small red-roofed house filled with black oil sunflower seed, shouldering through to get the goods. Gone are the skittish birds of spring. This older, wiser group means business.

I live on land that was once a bird conservatory. Over the years, houses popped up where there had once only been trees. Some of the birds have moved on, but others keep their families here, generation after generation, refusing eviction and deciding to adapt instead.

I wouldn’t necessarily call them pets, even though that is the blog theme for September. I’m more of a temporary landholder—a caregiver of the flocks. Yet, I feel a bond with them, all the same.

Sometimes, when I see them congregating at the birdbath, chirping and chattering, I imagine they’re sharing gossip. One might mention that rude squirrel she caught hanging from the feeder, gorging on their food and ignoring a perfectly good ear of corn left for him. Another might complain of a headache from the noise of the migrating Canadian geese at the natural springs down the hill.

Then sometimes, I imagine the talk is all about how this feeder—the one with the black oil sunflower seed—is far superior to the other ones in the neighborhood.

I puff up with pride over this before I move from the window, returning to my computer and steaming mug of tea.

Perhaps I’ll put up another feeder before winter.

~

Many thanks to Christy Carlyle for asking me to step in for her while she’s away. Also, thank you to Judith and Sarah for welcoming me to Romancing the Genres. You’ve put together a wonderful community here and I’m glad to be a part of it.

If you’re in the holiday mood, check out Tempting Mr. Weatherstone in Five GoldenRings: A Christmas Anthology from Avon (available now). The story continues in 2014 in the Wallflower Weddings series. For more information, please visit www.vivlorret.net. Or like me on facebook.

7 comments:

Judith Ashley said...

We are so glad you could join us for the rest of the year, Vivienne. The picture of the birds brings a smile whenever I see it (I actually scrolled up and down a couple of times just to see it appear).

Judith Ashley said...

BTW: do you know what bird that is? They look like wrens or another small bird but I've never seen any in those glorious colors.

Unknown said...

Lol. I love those bluebirds, too. I wish I could take credit for the image, but I had to resort to a stock photo. My birds refused to stay still long enough for me to capture their water-cooler talk. :)

Lynne Ernst said...

Love your bird chat. Brings a smile to my face.

Yes woke up fall. My favorite time of year.

Margaret Tanner said...

Hi Vivienne,
Lovely blog. The blue birds are so pretty.

Regards

Margaret

Unknown said...

Thank you, Lynne and Margaret! I hope you both have an amazing week. :)

Shobhan Bantwal said...

Nice post, especially since I can envision a cool, almost-fall day when I see the lovely birds.

Here in my town of Phoenix, Arizona, we are still wilting in the over 100 degree heat! Can't wait for October...