The woods are filled with birds today

Baring its bones.

If we belong to the sun and its warmth, to the bud and the sprout, to the miraculous flower, we also belong to the wind, the naked branch, the cold.

~ Fabiana Fondevila

Turkey buzzards resting in the warmth of the sunlight.

It’s not wintry cold here yet, but the trees are beginning to show their bare branches as the wind sheds them of their leaves.

Light seeping in.

And as the leaves fall, more light flows into the woods.

Not all have fallen.

It was a busy day in the woods.  Yellow Rumped Warblers are here for the winter.  They were flitting around everywhere in the woods this afternoon.  They don’t seem to mind me too much, either.  One landed on a branch so close to me that I couldn’t take his picture.  He was too close.  Another flew near my face before veering off in another direction.

Showing off his yellow rump.

Cornell’s All About Birds has this to say about the Yellow Rumped Warbler:

Yellow-rumped Warblers are impressive in the sheer numbers with which they flood the continent each fall. Shrubs and trees fill with the streaky brown-and-yellow birds and their distinctive, sharp chips. Though the color palette is subdued all winter, you owe it to yourself to seek these birds out on their spring migration or on their breeding grounds. Spring molt brings a transformation, leaving them a dazzling mix of bright yellow, charcoal gray and black, and bold white.

Showing off his or her sideways climbing skills.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen them in the spring.  I’d have to go back to northeast Ohio and look for them.  They migrate through there in the spring and spend their summers north in Canada and west in the U.S. and Canada.  I don’t think they go through their spring molt here, but I could be wrong.  I’ll watch for it next year.

Beautiful bird, even in winter colors.

I listened to a couple of talks (podcasts, etc., online) this week.  I should start keeping notes.  Ideas pop up that I want to explore, and then I forget about them.  Or a subject comes up that I remember, but I can’t remember who said what about it.  That’s the case with today’s musings while I walked.  Someone, somewhere, talked about change (evolution) and nature, going on to say that we ARE nature.  That’s true, of course, but I think many people see themselves as outside of nature.  We are “civilized” and don’t “live like animals.”  (Never mind that there are some whose actions are worse than those of any so-called animal, and those are often the folks who see themselves as above nature.)

Reflections painting the surface of the pond.

What interested me about the idea of being nature — that we ARE nature — is the connection, the idea that maybe nature is as much our tribe as our fellow humans.  When I think about being part of the tribe of what we call nature, then the trees, the birds, all of the other beings that I live with on this small piece of earth, are my sisters and brothers.  I don’t know how to explain this properly in words, but these thoughts bring about a sense of wholeness, a connection to everything.  Maybe the best way to put it — even though it is a small way to approach it — is a feeling of belonging.  It’s no secret that I’ve struggled with the idea of this place being home, of rooting and thriving where I’ve been planted.  When I stand with the Lightning Tree or chatter with the Yellow Rumped Warblers, and think of them as beings that are part of my family or tribe, then I feel at home.

I know that others have explored this and that I am not the first person on the planet to relate to animals and plants in such a way.  This is not new ground for many people (especially indigenous peoples from this land and around the world), but it is a new knowing for me.

Mistletoe in the backyard maple.

Well, I suppose little of this is making much sense.  That’s okay.  I didn’t expect it to since it is one of those things that is difficult to explain.  All the meanderings in my thoughts recently are somehow interwoven, and I often have no idea where they will lead.  That’s okay, too.  It makes life interesting.

A woodpecker in a loblolly pine. I think it’s a female Downy Woodpecker. Maybe.

Thank you for visiting today, and rambling around the ranch with me.  Our weather has been amazing the past few days.  Let’s go out to the Point to watch the sunset this evening.  It’s at 4:51 PM.  I’ll be there early so I can take a walk on the beach.  It’s been a while since I’ve been out there.

Be good, be kind, be loving.  Just Be.  🙂

Two oak leaves discussing when it will be time to let go.

A few of the 10,000 reasons to be happy:  441)  The brief but wondrous feeling of connection to All.  442)  The variety of teachers I’ve been exposed to lately.  443)  The teacher within.  444)  Freshly baked apple pie.  445)  Yellow Rumped Warblers.  Even their name is fun.