Dan and I are bird watchers. So far, we don’t have a “life list,” but we made a list of all the birds we see out our back windows. Not sure where it is, though so we’re not too organized.
Spring is our favorite bird time of year. Several weeks ago we noticed a Hummingbird hovering outside our kitchen window, at the exact location we usually hang our feeder. We quickly fixed it up for our returning friends.
The Goldfinches have turned a bright yellow and are still hanging around. It seems they leave for a short while each summer, but always return to Dan’s abundant black oil sunflower seeds.
This morning a woodpecker was working on our wood siding. Sounded like a hammer—not good.
Of course, the Barn Swallows are dive bombing at mosquitoes all around the house. They are certainly the worker birds. But maybe not as diligent as the buzzards who circle above the valley looking for the latest casualty. Sometimes we think the area behind our house should be called Buzzard Hollow. On any warm afternoon, there might be a whole kettle (the word for group, I looked it up) of buzzards “riding” the warm air currents.
This afternoon, the female turkey who paced all afternoon after we burned the pasture no doubt looking for a nest that no longer existed, casually walked across the area behind the house. She most likely has another nest already.
There is the mockingbird who sings in the middle of the night perhaps because of the barn light and the cardinal who loves to sing all day but, like me, doesn’t have a beautiful voice. Of all the birds we have here, the mother sparrow out my friend Kathy’s window, wins the prize for poor timing.
Last Friday, Kathy sent me the cutest picture of a birdhouse full of babies getting fed by momma. She wrote a note accompanying the picture wishing me Happy Mother’s Day. 
“Ahh, what a perfect picture for Mothers Day weekend.” I wrote back.
The next day, I received another email from Kathy. It seems that on Mothers Day morning, momma shoved the babies out of the nest to begin their journey in life.
I had several reactions to this story. First, I laughed at the momma’s poor timing. Second, I wondered if, in the end, this was a lesson from our bird friends on Mother’s Day Sunday. Our job is to nest, nurture and then nudge. Of course, we mothers will always love.