Birds in paradise

The Christmas gift I remember and appreciate above all others is the bird feeder I got a couple of years ago from Heather and the boys.  It hangs in our backyard, between the house and the shop, filled with sunflower seeds.  At first, it hung there untouched, unappreciated by our feathered friends.  But once one bird discovered the bounty, another followed, and another, and another.

This halting dash into spring, oft interrupted by tenacious Old Man Winter, has turned our neighbourhood into a bird's paradise.  There is no other way to describe it.

Drunk on the fermenting berries leftover from last season, they race back and forth, up and down through the right-of-way/back alley that separates the houses on north side of Demers from those on the south side of Hill.  Red-winged and yellow-headed blackbirds, robins, purple finches, and bluejays playfully vie for position, filling the air with their beautiful songs.  The blackbirds are most distinctive, traveling in large flocks from one tree to the next.

The robins are incredibly beautiful, but very skittish.  I can only get so close before they fly away.  Trying to get a decent photograph has proven quite difficult.  Meanwhile, the purple finches are a little more accommodating.

I'm grateful for our feathered friends and the daily carnival they are enjoying in our downtown neighbourhood.  It's like we get to wake up each morning to a symphony of beautiful sounds, blissful joy, colour and excitement.  I can't imagine anything better.