Bird bath time

A cottage garden should have some display or presence of water. If you live in the city it's unlikely you will have a stream or creek running through your backyard; I am not too big on fountains or artificial waterfalls although it's a possibility; so the easiest display of water is a bird bath. Birds love to visit a bird bath and sit in the water, they dunk their heads under the water, flap their wings, and then depart. It is a source of endless entertainment. Why do birds take baths? I am not too sure that science has studied this much; even in the fall I've seen birds in this bird bath. Curious, isn't it?

A robin having a cooling bath.

I am a paparazzi of birds bathing in public, there is no privacy anymore...

Crows Return to the Bird Bath

Not much gives me as much happiness as seeing these birds, whether crows, grackles, sparrows, robins, cardinals, or others. They are all a delight and source of happiness. The curious thing is that they seem to know this is for them, a bird bath, and they come and have a splashy bath or a drink of water; they even line up and wait their turn to use the bird bath. The crows are large majestic birds but never cross a crow, they'll remember what you've done and make your life difficult. Here is a crow visitor from last April. 

The Leonard Cohen memorial mail box

Walking along Westminster Avenue below Sherbrooke Street West, I found a Leonard Cohen decorated mailbox. Must mail all of my letters here. Then on to where the Motel Raphael used to be located, it was demolished years ago and now we have more beautiful condos with a terrific view of train tracks and a highway. Gentrification takes all the character out of a place and is a spreader of ugliness. 

This is the Leonard Cohen Memorial Mailbox, on Westminster near St. Jacques;
it has since been removed.

First Robin of 2021

Birds in the bird bath

Nothing has brought as much happiness this summer as seeing birds in our bird bath. I change the water in the morning and then, later, the birds arrive, sitting in the water, dunking their heads under the water and flapping their wings so the water sprays over them. Even today, 7 October 2020, there was a big fat robin sitting in the water by himself. It's not particularly warm outside, maybe + 15 C., but there he is, enjoying himself, having a great time. When he leaves the feathers on his head are all sticking up and spiky, like some kid trying to look sharp.

 

Crows at the bird bath...

In this world of violence and sickness this is what brings me happiness, seeing crows at the bird bath in our back yard. Then, hearing them calling out to each other, seeing them soaking bread in the bird bath, eating peanuts I've left for them or peanuts that they find somewhere else. In the morning finding the water in the bird bath opaque from bread they're left there and also finding chicken bones and soup bones the crows have found and left to soak in the water.

Living with Animals

Last spring when I began working in the garden I wondered why birds and squirrels were afraid of me but not afraid of each other. Then I thought of Walt Whitman's poem (section 32 of "Song of Myself") about living with animals. Do we need to be like St. Francis of Assisi to be on friendly terms with animals? I soon realized the simple answer, just be outside a lot and the birds and squirrels will soon get used to you and not run from your presence. In fact, they'll ignore your presence. Today I began feeding the birds again for the winter. Soon I had a beautiful red cardinal and then chickadees arrived and then some squirrels who didn't seem to like each other. Here is Whitman's poem:

I think I could turn and live with animals, they are
so placid and self-contain’d,
I stand and look at them long and long.
They do not sweat and whine about their condition,
They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins,
They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God,
Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with
the mania of owning things,
Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that
lived thousands of years ago,
Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth.
So they show their relations to me and I accept them,
They bring me tokens of myself, they evince
them plainly in their possession
I wonder where they get those tokens,
Did I pass that way huge times ago and negligently drop them?