Our garden begins a few steps outside our back door, and a winding path takes me past a tart cherry tree, under the canopy of a pear, along the edge of a small pond, and under the rustling leaves of mature trees.
The pics of the two sweet Tennessee Warblers will stay with me today. Always a good idea to practice the buddy system when taking the plunge into unknown waters. 🙂
I think about those Tennessee Warblers all the time. They were clearly connected to each other. It was endearing to watch them stay so close together. The dominant narrative around migrating warblers is that they fly as individuals. I do not believe it. I think they are connected to each other. And then, there are flight calls. The birds are constantly calling out into the night sky during migration to stay in contact with each other.
We are beginning to add native plants to our yard to create a more natural habitat. This was such an inspiring read & what a wonderful place to call home!
Thank you Bill, your evocative words and your photographs transport me. Heck if I don’t feel inspired to plant some
More perennials!
In fact I want to establish some sun roots (my name for Jerusalem Artichokes ) on the yard perimeter. It’s on a south face, steep eroded slope of housing development fill, so very poor soil. I Wonder if the birds would help me naturalize these plants.
You are welcome. I am glad to hear you are inspired to plant more perennials. You should be able to get Jerusalem Artichokes to grow. In fact, it is hard not to succeed with them. You could experiment by plantings some of them and covering with grass clippings, leaves, compost, or wood chips. If they do not grow, you could try getting rye or some other cover crop to grow for a season to begin to bring life back to the soil and then try again.
Bill, I garden for the birds too, I have a lot of goldfinch in my yard year round. They are delightful to watch and I leave my sunflowers up until Spring so they continue to have a food source.
This sounds like Heaven! Your writing really brings it to life. I doubt you need it, but there’s an app put out by Cornell U. Called Merlin Bird ID that will identify birds by their songs. I’m also intrigued by your pond construction. Is it a large shallow pan?
Hi Sheila, Our pond is small and relatively shallow. It is about four feet by six feet and 2-3 feet deep. We have a little waterfall as part of it and the sound of flowing water helps attract birds. We dug the pond ourselves and lined it with a rubber liner. It is a real focal point in our garden.
This was such an inspiration…. I’ve been slowly adding natives to my small yard…. A long way to go though! Yours sounds like bird paradise 😊Lucky birds, bugs and bees….. and lucky us to be able to share these images…. We are all connected.
Thank you so much for the beautiful photos. 🤗I really cherish them as I can't seem to get to my camera fast enough to take my own 🤷♀️🤦♀️we actually had a cooper's hawk on our roof for a bit last week but I couldn't get a picture ☹️
Bill, You create such beautiful visuals. Would you consider creating a video?! As a relative, I assume I have a standing invitation?! but would be satisfedi with a video. I have a bird garden differently. Also a squirrel garden. I used to plan it carefully with beneficials: tall stuff in the back, curbside appeal in front. That has rarely worked. The birds and squirrels drop seeds and move bulbs around according to some secret recipe. I now have a dozen 12 foot rose mallows with flowers as big as dinner plates. Also, goldenrod and 4 different kinds of asters. I rip out most vines, but keep the autumn clematis which they brought (the smell is transformational).
This is where I meditate every day. Some of my friends use special words or phrases. I just breathe in the flowers and the birds. They are the face and sound of God, Goddess, All That Is. aunt Carol
Hi Carol, your garden sounds beautiful. I do think about making videos and I have made a few short videos. If I can find a gap in the cicada calls, I will walk through and record a video. I can share that in Substack notes so you can see what it looks like.
The pics of the two sweet Tennessee Warblers will stay with me today. Always a good idea to practice the buddy system when taking the plunge into unknown waters. 🙂
I think about those Tennessee Warblers all the time. They were clearly connected to each other. It was endearing to watch them stay so close together. The dominant narrative around migrating warblers is that they fly as individuals. I do not believe it. I think they are connected to each other. And then, there are flight calls. The birds are constantly calling out into the night sky during migration to stay in contact with each other.
We are beginning to add native plants to our yard to create a more natural habitat. This was such an inspiring read & what a wonderful place to call home!
Good luck with your native plants!
Thank you Bill, your evocative words and your photographs transport me. Heck if I don’t feel inspired to plant some
More perennials!
In fact I want to establish some sun roots (my name for Jerusalem Artichokes ) on the yard perimeter. It’s on a south face, steep eroded slope of housing development fill, so very poor soil. I Wonder if the birds would help me naturalize these plants.
You are welcome. I am glad to hear you are inspired to plant more perennials. You should be able to get Jerusalem Artichokes to grow. In fact, it is hard not to succeed with them. You could experiment by plantings some of them and covering with grass clippings, leaves, compost, or wood chips. If they do not grow, you could try getting rye or some other cover crop to grow for a season to begin to bring life back to the soil and then try again.
Paradise! Bliss. Happy sigh. Thank you both so much. Hugs and best wishes.
Bill, I garden for the birds too, I have a lot of goldfinch in my yard year round. They are delightful to watch and I leave my sunflowers up until Spring so they continue to have a food source.
Angels of life, thanks.
Observations of birds going about their business - miraculous! Thanks so much, Bill.
This was wonderful Bill, loved every morsel.
I feel inspired to say thank you, thank you for creating such a vital, diverse ecosystem in your yard for all our wild friends.
It is not entirely altruistic. Creating habitat like this is incredibly rewarding. I highly recommend it as a way to create meaning and connection.
I couldn’t agree more.:)
This sounds like Heaven! Your writing really brings it to life. I doubt you need it, but there’s an app put out by Cornell U. Called Merlin Bird ID that will identify birds by their songs. I’m also intrigued by your pond construction. Is it a large shallow pan?
Hi Sheila, Our pond is small and relatively shallow. It is about four feet by six feet and 2-3 feet deep. We have a little waterfall as part of it and the sound of flowing water helps attract birds. We dug the pond ourselves and lined it with a rubber liner. It is a real focal point in our garden.
Thank you for the information! Your post has been such an inspiration for me.
This was such an inspiration…. I’ve been slowly adding natives to my small yard…. A long way to go though! Yours sounds like bird paradise 😊Lucky birds, bugs and bees….. and lucky us to be able to share these images…. We are all connected.
One of my all time favorite sights is watching them bathe. It is such a thing to witness.
The varmints have been eating my sunflower plants, but the goldfinches like echinacea seeds too, fortunately.
Thank you so much for the beautiful photos. 🤗I really cherish them as I can't seem to get to my camera fast enough to take my own 🤷♀️🤦♀️we actually had a cooper's hawk on our roof for a bit last week but I couldn't get a picture ☹️
Beautiful
Bill, You create such beautiful visuals. Would you consider creating a video?! As a relative, I assume I have a standing invitation?! but would be satisfedi with a video. I have a bird garden differently. Also a squirrel garden. I used to plan it carefully with beneficials: tall stuff in the back, curbside appeal in front. That has rarely worked. The birds and squirrels drop seeds and move bulbs around according to some secret recipe. I now have a dozen 12 foot rose mallows with flowers as big as dinner plates. Also, goldenrod and 4 different kinds of asters. I rip out most vines, but keep the autumn clematis which they brought (the smell is transformational).
This is where I meditate every day. Some of my friends use special words or phrases. I just breathe in the flowers and the birds. They are the face and sound of God, Goddess, All That Is. aunt Carol
Hi Carol, your garden sounds beautiful. I do think about making videos and I have made a few short videos. If I can find a gap in the cicada calls, I will walk through and record a video. I can share that in Substack notes so you can see what it looks like.
Thank you. I am glad to hear you appreciated this essay.