Today is the first day of the annual Audubon Christmas bird count. This 123-year-old annual tradition gives the Audubon Society, as well as all of us, some idea of what is actually going on with birds in our region. Now, most of us may ask, why a bird count in December? Why not in the spring?
By December, the trees are bare and it’s easier to see the birds. Also, food is lower to the ground so that helps the count as well. Also the species are more or less static; that is, they’re not migrating so the count can be more accurate.
My yard now hosts nuthatches, juncos, house wrens, a woodpecker or two, and some jays that are still hanging around. I haven’t seen the cardinal pair that has graced my feeders for the past several years. I hope they’re still okay and will return soon. As soon as it is light enough, I’ll fill the feeders, put corn down for the squirrels, and take a few moments to thank God for the beauty of birds.
Prayer for the Day
Chirping, they search for sustenance in the cold morning,
And fly away when a body approaches their feeding station;
But there’s one small nuthatch, full of your Spirit, O Lord,
Not moving, but looking to us for food and care.
May we be grateful for all your creatures that give us joy,
Remembering that you, O Lord, watch over them as well.
In the name of the One who walked among us and the birds,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
In order to see birds it is necessary to become a part of the silence.
Robert Lynd, Irish writer and poetry editor (1879-1949)
Small birds throw seeds out of the feeder; large birds pick them up off the ground, but the squirrels try to muscle in.
- Lillian Jackson Braun, American novelist (1913-2011)
Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body what you will wear. Is not life more than food or the body more than clothing?
Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet God feeds them. Are you not more value than they? And, can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
Jesus, in Matthew 6: 25-26