At certain times, those bits of feathered color that grace our woods are especially welcome and especially meaningful. I sit here confined for a while, recovering from light surgery to remove a bone-spur from my foot that has often kept me from birding comfortably -- perhaps you, too, have found that birding is more enjoyable when you can walk. Our feeders and suet are only a few feet away, outside the windows, framed in the dark green of the Doug-fir trees, and today the boughs have been decorated with snow, now starting to melt and slide away. I've been entertained by a lonely little female Townsend's Warbler who comes often to nibble the suet, and while I always appreciate the chickadees and nuthatches who share the feast with her, she is especially welcome today. Her bright gold stands out, a lovely little splash of color against the green and the snow. It is specially cheering, a little gift of nature to help me forget the discomfort and confinement. A small flock o Bushtits comes through now and then, virtually covering the suet with their bodies; my warbler waits patiently until they've had their fill, then jumps on again to display for me. (Of course, "for me" is a conceit, but sometimes a bit of a conceit is justified.) No Varied Thrushes today, but I feel the same way about them; their brilliant oranges are always most welcome. But my little warbler will entertain me enough for now.

Cheers,
Burt

Burt Guttman
The Evergreen State College
Olympia, WA 98505 guttmanb at evergreen.edu <mailto:guttmanb at evergreen.edu>
Home: 7334 Holmes Island Road S. E., Olympia, 98503