Wednesday, November 29, 2006

The Breakfast Club

The sun peeked out for a bit just at the end of our walk this morning. It brought the house finches out in droves to chow down at the breakfast bar.

I love birds. That wasn't always so. When I was a youngster I read Daphne du Maurier's "The Birds". It terrified me and so did our fine feathered friends for years. The Hitchcock movie of the same name and loosely based on the story didn't help.

But as I grew up the fear faded and I grew to love the little critters for their eternal cheerfulness, resourcefulness and song. The birds in the eastern U.S. are far more colorful than their local counterparts. In Rochester, NY we had Cardinals, Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles, Chickadees, Buntings, every Woodpecker known to man and oh so many many more.

Here most tend to blend into a certain sameness - grayish brown. Size differentiates the Finches from the Doves from the Starlings, etc.

I have my favorites of course. In summer it has to be the Meadow Larks, the ever present Robins and the screeching Killdeer.

In the winter without doubt it's the Hunnies. They aren't the brightest but definitely one of the biggest - and the funniest. They come to feed about the time I do my treadmill duty and the time passes with laughter at their antics.

What a great way to greet the day - with a song in my heart.

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