Finding Happiness in Community

Eurasian Tree Sparrow

When things feel a little down with the world, or life is getting oppressive, a nice long solitary walk in nature is usually good for what ails. The combination of fresh air, mild exertion, and ever-changing natural scenery offers a refreshing dose of mindful activity to reset the mood and senses.

Sometimes, it takes a little more.

A recent walk was proving ineffective; it was early and a bit chilly, very quiet and overcast. No birds were singing, though geese could be heard complaining in the distance toward the wetlands. The mind kept drifting back to irritants, turning them over and around, examining incessantly in spasms of mental fidgeting. A pair of deer, flushed from the brush nearby, flashed their tails and disappeared, barely a blip on the landscape.

House Sparrows

Then, a cheerful whistle penetrates the mental fog. A pair of starlings, high up in the treetops, sing away in the cold, trying out songs of meadowlarks, peewees, and unrecognizable variants in their repertoire amid the usual clicks and whistles. Why did the singer choose those birds to mimic? Will it give him an edge with the ladies come springtime? It certainly got my attention.

Further, a trio of blue jays hop among the branches. One carries a round...something...in its bill as it silently ascends from branch to branch. Another whines with the standard blue jay cry as it perches overhead. The third grumbles quietly in the shadows, emitting a guttural cwow cwow cwow at a low volume. Their brilliant blue feathers are dulled in the diffuse light.

Nearby, cardinals, male and female, call their loud, sharp chip notes, as their distinctive silhouettes flit among the branches, vivid colors muted from the backlight of the morning sun.

Blue Jay

And then I reach my friends (it is a one-sided friendship, I confess, but they are not harmed by my affection so I persist with admiration from afar), the flocks of Passer sparrows that hang out at the north end of the Greenway. First are the Eurasian Tree Sparrows, with a song somewhat sweeter and softer than that of the rough-edged House Sparrows nearby. Both chirp from the thickets along the trail, with the House Sparrows occasionally swooping into the cattail-filled cell nearby, while the Eurasian Tree Sparrows tend to enjoy hanging out in the big multiflora rose.

Cardinal

I am thankful to the birds for allowing me to eavesdrop on their conversations, and helping lift the funk of the gloomy morning. We are a community, sharing the same space at the same time--and although they may be indifferent to the attention, it means so much more to
me.