Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Bye, bye, birdie


This morning, on my grass about three feet from my kitchen window, equidistant from the edge of the patio and the corner downspout, I discovered a dead one of these:


I don’t know how it met its end, whether a cat got it or it flew into the side of my house, but it had definitely expired. I saw that its feathers were mostly blue, but I knew it was neither a blue jay nor a bluebird, so I pulled my handy-dandy National Audubon Society Field Guide off the shelf and discovered that my bird was a male Blue Grosbeak. I don’t remember ever seeing one before, and I’m truly sorry that the first one I saw was no longer alive.

I thought of some words Jesus spoke that are recorded in the tenth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew:

“Aren’t two sparrows sold for only a penny? But your Father knows when any one of them falls to the ground. Even the hairs on your head are counted. So don’t be afraid! You are worth much more than many sparrows.”

Today, my Father and I both knew that this beautiful creature, though not a sparrow, had fallen to the ground, and it made me sad. I would gladly have donated a few more hairs from my head if that could have prevented its demise.

I may be worth much more than many sparrows, but around here, at least, a male Blue Grosbeak is hard to replace.

7 comments:

  1. I hate when sparrows die.
    They are such friendly little birds.
    Heavenly creatures.

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  2. Such a beautiful creature. Very exotic looking. Always sad when a life ends.
    Perhaps it just died of old age.

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  3. Our birds here in NZ are, taken as a whole, a dowdy bunch. That plumage looks breath-taking to me.

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  4. That bird looks very much like one I saw in our woods a coupe weeks ago...it's not supposed to range this far north, but it sure looks the same. I commented to Dorothy that I had never seen such a beautiful blue color on a bird before.

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  5. I just wanted to thank you for visiting my blog, Bob and particularly for taking the time and trouble to read the blog about my son and to comment on it. It means a lot to me, as do your thoughts and prayers. Thank you again.

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  6. Thanks to each one of you for leaving a comment here.

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  7. I grieve with you over the death of the blue grosbeak. Have never seen one here; I felt very fortunate to have a rose-breasted grosbeak pair visit me for a while.

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<b>Always true to you, darlin’, in my fashion</b>

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