Feeding the Birds--and Other Such Delights

I love birds.

You wouldn't know it by the way I treat them, though. I have multiple bird feeders around our house, but I don't keep them filled. I start out in the spring with good intentions--in fact, there's a bag of birdseed in the back of my truck right now--but after a few weeks, I run out of the food and leave the birds to fend for themselves.

And I don't feed the birds when they most need it--in the winter.

So, what's the excuse? Laziness? The cost of food? Forgetfulness? Too busy?

Whatever my excuse, I really do love birds.

I even let Nicky talk me into trying out this Uppercase Living wall decoration in my living room. I absolutely love it!




Yesterday, as I was reading to Josh on our couch in the living room, I happened to look up and see a robin collecting things off the ground for a nest.



He would collect all he could and then try to make it stick to the top bend of the downspout bedside our porch--with little success.



Back and forth he would fly, trying to construct the perfect nest. He would even seem to be throwing his body down on it to make it stay. As soon as he would fly away, though, it would fall.



Poor thing. He seemed to be watching all of the other robins in the yard collecting things for their own nests. It was almost as if he was saying, "A little help here?" Carrie even took out a couple of balls of dryer lint and scattered them on the ground, hoping that the lint would have some magical sticking power.



We all set up camp in the living room for awhile, silently encouraging the robin. Finally, he flew away and didn't return.

This morning, as I was saying goodbye to Paul, I looked over at the "nest" and thought that it looked a little more shapely than it did yesterday morning. Maybe it's just wishful thinking.

We're all hoping that the nest will be successfully built right there--on the bend of the downspout--so that we can witness babies sometime this spring. Josh is already talking about the eggs that will go in nest, comparing them to the plastic Easter eggs that we still have out. He even wants to "feed birdies."

Maybe Joshua's desire to feed the birds will be the encouragement I need to take better care of my feathered friends.