View from the window...who goes there..and there..and there!

 

As the seasons change, so do the visitors to the garden out front. Many stay year-round, a few just change from summer to winter 'clothes', but some only visit at certain times. Those visitors are on a path north in the spring and then on a journey south in the fall. To me, White-crowned sparrows, house finches, and Dark-eyed Juncos are birds that help define the seasons.

Until this year...

We have been visited by a host of juncos, dressed in their formal slate-coloured tuxedos, with brilliant white shirt fronts, and accompanied by their ladies in lovelt gowns of subdued browns and greys.

 Their beaks are a soft pink and when they fly their tail feathers fan out and are edged by white feathers, both of which are identifying features. They are ground feeders like mourning doves, and will run on the ground only flying to regain shelter. Comical to watch.

Being that survival of any species is based on meeting the needs of food, shelter and safety, our yard must be fulfilling some of those needs. The human hierarchy of needs includes friendship, esteem and self-actualization. Many birds that winter here, like chickadees, do so in larger groups but that probably has more to do with safety and warmth than friendship. I think most birds and animals are born self-actualized; they seem to know how and where they fit in, and what is necessary for their survival. Humans seem to have to figure all that out in spite of being of a 'higher order'.

They do not announce their arrival like the blue jays or sparrows with noise and fanfare, but arrive in a loosely formed group that spreads itself under and in the spruce tree and on the lower branches of the shrubs next to the house. They come and go as a group but seem to have a built-in sense of individual space, staying near to one another, but not close. When feeding they seem to give way to one another though it is not obvious where that is due to size, sex, age or aggression. Maybe being polite or taking turns is built into them while we must be taught it.

I don't know how long they will visit here, perhaps as long as I throw out seeds and have messy squirrels dropping bits of corn. It will also be interesting to see if any seeds get missed and result in sunflowers in odd places in the garden; little gifts left as souvenirs of a lovely visit.