Just One Day

Spring is a wonderful time of year.
The flowers are blooming and the birds are singing.

In just one day I saw in my backyard....

*Numerous hummingbirds busily dancing between the flowers in the garden and the sugar water feeders

*Goldfinches clinging confidently to the swinging bags in the trees full of their favorite, Niger seed

*Brightly colored yellow Orioles and their babies with their warning cackle and whistle int he trees preparing for a quick sip of sugar water from their orange feeders

*Cedar Waxwings arriving together in a chorus of high pitch whistles in the neighbors Mulberry tree full of freshly ripe fruit

*Grossbeaks not to be mistaken as an Oriole but just as brightly colored with more of an orange and patterned wings, foraging for their favorite sunflower seeds and enjoying the Mulberries as well

*Blue Jays announcing their arrival and trying to hold as many peanuts as they can in their beaks before taking off to find that special hiding spot

*A Mockingbird flashing the white spots on its wings as it tries to scare the other birds from the fresh fruit berries

*A baby Robin with it's red breast and yellowish beak learning from its parents how to pluck a berry from the tree

*Black Starlings zip in not very gracefully to grab whatever fruit or seed is available before bulleting off again

*Bush Tits suddenly appear with their small peeps to check out the various bushes for their favorite small bugs

*Towhees that I like to call Peepers, peep merrily around the yard as they calmly forage for bugs

*A Western Tanager with it's brightly colored orange head and yellow body sneaks into the Mulberry tree to feast on fresh berries

*A Woodpecker rhythmically taps out a beat in another tree ignoring the other birds following her

*Ring turtle doves and Mourning Doves appear hoping to quietly eat some see, unseen

*A black Crow flies overhead but does not stop

*Varieties of baby birds closely follow their parents with the cry of hunger, pestering them until they finally give in and feed them

*A House Wren sings merrily in the trees, flitting its tail preparing to feed the babies in their nest

*An assortment of House Finches flock to the bird feeder, the bird bath, and the ground kicking up dust as they take their dust baths

*Quietly a Hawk flies over the backyard and suddenly there is chaos, the birds all fly to safety and some sing their warning cry to others

As the danger of the hawk subsides, one by one the birds start flying back to the yard to once again enjoy the harvest of food and share their beauty....even in just one day.