By Canon Cate Edmonds
We are fortunate to have a garden frequented by a wide variety of birds. One of my favourites is the Nuthatch. This beautiful bird, with its blue grey back, cream belly and chestnut underwing and tail, never ceases to bring a smile to my face. I am fascinated by these creatures who are one of the few birds who feed upside down. It is believed that they do this primarily to get a different perspective while foraging and it allows them to find food which other birds might miss. Their specially adapted necks and beaks enable them to hang upside down whilst accessing hard to reach seeds and insects in tree bark. This unique feeding behaviour is part of their agile and acrobatic nature.
Another frequent visitor, particularly first thing in the morning, is the Greater Spotted Woodpecker. Apart from being very attractive they have an ingenious way of teaching their young how to forage for food. We have observed them showing their young how to take a seed or nut from the hanging feeders and then flying across to a palm tree near by and forcing it into a hole they have previously made enabling the young to learn to peck from tree bark.
I could continue to wax lyrical about the birds in our garden. The joy we get from the range and their habits is so uplifting and always makes me so grateful for the joy of God’s creation. In gratitude we must protect it. Each of these birds is unique as each one of us is unique. Each have different ways of behaving as we have and that is our God given gift. A verse from Psalm 139 I believes sums this up ; “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well” v14.
I may be painting a very idyllic picture that everything in the garden is rosy all the time. There are squabbles around the feeders, the larger birds intimidate the smaller ones and occasionally a raptor may appear and take out a poor unsuspecting creature. But eventually peace reigns and the feeding antics continue. In fact, it sometimes feels that what we are witnessing is a microcosm of our society. I will leave you to make the analogies yourself! We are all fearfully and wonderfully made, made to work together for the common good, made to work in harmony, made to adhere to the great commandment, to love God and our neighbour as ourselves.
Observing our feathered friends in our garden, I note that there is more harmony than discord and I pray that the same may be said of our society. Hard though that maybe at times but each of us has our part to play however small. I pray that in our ever changing and challenging world we too can learn to adapt our behaviours so that all may feed in harmony.