Bird Watch

There really are a couple of birds inside those branches!

Numerous attempts this morning to get a photo of either the House Wrens or the hummingbirds that frequent this lovely bush, I decided it had become too big a challenge. They are all so very quick and are camouflaged so well. Only by movement do I see them. For example, just now as I write this one of the wrens went inside the nest, pouching out the very flexible sides. Interior work has begun. I’ve seen this activity several times as I’ve been here at my desk. The nest is very secure, even the breezes haven’t shifted it. So, due to my lack of success, I’ve added a short poem I wrote earlier today for distancing family and friends of mine:

An iridescent hummingbird

zooms and sips

shaded fuchsia flowers.

 “There is unreasonable joy to be had from the observation of 

small birds going about their bright, oblivious business.”

~ Grant Hutchison,  The Complete Lachlan

Avian Construction Site

Taken from the other side of the window glass.

What am I curious about today? Not how to pace through ‘how do I live through this crazy time?’ What has piqued my curiosity this morning is the House Wren outside my window. Writing from my desk this morning, I kept looking up at the one little brown bird fussing and fluffing the little nest I wrote about on Wednesday. There has only been one bird yesterday and today, not the two that I originally saw. Wanting to go outside and investigate, I was very hesitant. After the chittering chastisement I received Wednesday for just taking a picture outside, I thought it best to stay at this distance.

I have really wanted to know - are these birds wrens or  chick-a-dees? Once more, Google to the rescue. I located an Audubon site with images, sounds and nesting habits. It confirmed to me that, very likely, House Wrens are taking up residence in the flowering shrub outside my window. But then my curiosity took hold again. Why am I only seeing one bird ~ not two? Hmm - in documentaries I’ve learned that some other birds have curious nesting habits. The male makes the nest - and some make a big fuss over it. Is this what is going on? So back to the Audubon site for a little reading.

It turns out that House Wrens do indeed share that behaviour with a bit of a twist. Two nests are built by the male. Obviously quite a distance from each other as I only see one. One nest may be the permanent residence, while the other is a ‘dummy’ nest. The female evaluates both nests and decides which one she thinks would make the best one for her eggs. I did see the two of them this morning. The male still fussing over the placement of teeny tiny twigs and fluff. He has created a quite substantial nest to this human’s eye. The female, sitting a couple branches over and watching, will be the judge of his work. I do hope she chooses the nest I can see so I can keep an eye on the life of these two ordinary brown House Wrens and any chicks that enter the world.

“The knowledge of all things is possible.”

~ Leonardo da Vinci

Feeling Overwhelmed at Meal Time?

Good afternoon everyone! Spring has finally sprung on this 19th day of March. For a moment I was confused, but in conversation with my sister in Alberta. (social distance!) she reminded me that a Leap Year changes things. As if we’re not in the middle of a million, thousand changes right now! 

Anyway that brings me to a far more important issue. Lunch. Here at my desk. It’s rather strange combination of breakfast food (grapefruit and toast) and lunch or dinner food (chili with salmon). The glass of milk can be seen at anytime of day or night. Just fits wherever anyone wants it to fit. By the way, I had gotten some homemade rhubarb jam out of the fridge for my toast. It is now slathered on my toast and is quite delicious. 

In this pandemic situation, there’s been hoarding and really some pretty unfair practices with folks. I will say that if I am feeling anxious about all the what if’s, then I’m not the only one. Sometimes the hoarding will be about not being safe and fed. Another concern that I have is that some anxieties go right to the appetite and not in an overeating sort of way. Sometimes, eating regularly is the farthest thing from someones mind. Or maybe just the work of getting even a small lunch together is too much. Or, another issue - chocolate and bags of chips. While that can be great comfort, it pales beside real comfort food.

I am used to cooking and making up easy to manage dishes. I’ve done that most of my life. Buying my meals at work was costing too much money and didn’t taste as good as homemade, so I developed that practice. Our parents, in my childhood home, had taught us the skills to make the most of our food. Not everyone has had such a beautiful and similar experience. Today it is more important that ever. Not only does preparing food in advance make any meal time easier, any cooking spreads delicious aromas through the house. 

Rely on cook books (I have more than I need), google, You-tube and anything your grandparents or parents may have told you. Enjoy this part of the journey that none of us asked for. Food doesn’t have to be fancy or necessarily even delicious ~ I’m not pleased with the chili with salmon ~ just doesn’t seem right without ground beef. Yams on the other hand in chili are wonderful.

Keep hydrated, (Sorry Texas ~ I put all kinds of things in my chili.) eating meals ~ small and frequent can be better that three squares. Stay well out there!

“Food is everything we are. It’s an extension of nationalist feeling, 

ethnic feeling, your personal history, your province, your region, 

your tribe, your grandma. It’s inseparable from those from the get-go.”

~ Anthony Bourdain

Today's Lunch Menu:

Chili - made two weeks ago with canned beans, tomatoes, corn and salmon. Kept in the freezer in separate containers.

Bread - homemade - kept in the refrigerator so I don't eat it all up!

Grapefruit - kept cut up and stored in the refrigerator

Rhubarb jam (not in the photo) - made with rhubarb last fall.

Milk - I did not milk the cow.