I decided to blog about what has brought me joy the past few weeks. And that would be…Benny! That is what I say when he lands on the bare branch of a young hickory tree n the back corner of the yard outside the window from the breakfast table. “Benny!”
Benny! is a brilliant and perfect bluebird, the first we have ever had around the house. He’s brilliant in his blueness, an incredibly vivid delight when he breezes in for a visit. His peach chest is also impressive, of course, and his spirit feels different from other birds. Not like the robins, who are cheerful and calm, able to flitter around the yard even if you are ten yards away. Benny! is more cautious, but makes friendly overtures, like perching on the deck railing sometimes; other birds never do that. I pretend that Benny has arrived this Spring specifically to lighten my mood, a friend suggested he could be my spirit animal. Maybe so. I worry when I don’t see Benny! for a day or two. Perhaps he’s found another yard to dazzle. Perhaps someone needs him as I do, to lighten their spirit. Okay. But then, he’s back. Always on the young hickory with the shaky, skinny limb, he perches, his tiny weight making it bounce a bit. I haven’t seen a mate or observed a nest anywhere. Benny! could be a bachelor, I suppose.
Other avian related things are happening around here. There’s Henry, the red tailed hawk, who has taken to swooping low and flying across the yard. He’s something to see as he passes the windows! He too has perched on the deck railing once or twice. We have always had hawks here, but generally their nest is at a distance from the house; their overhead flights casting shadows across the yard and deck throughout the summer, their screeching as they soar a familiar sound. But this spring, we finally connected the dots about Henry’s new behavior, after spotting him actually skittering across the floor of the deck – Henry is after the chipmunks!
Praise be! I know everyone thinks Chip and Dale are cute, but the Chippie family that likes to dig up my plants in the flower boxes and use the deck for their navigation path leads me to increasingly violent behavior as the summer progresses. They have, on occasion, run right over my foot! Enough is enough. So I say, “Right on Henry! Do you thing”! Good luck and God bless!
I signed up to do the Cornell bird watch and hope that Benny! arrives so I can record his sighting, as well as Mrs. Cardinal who I’ve spotted a couple of times, and a lively, small lemon yellow goldfinch.
Do the squabbling geese count?
Bluebird Image by Leilani Carroll