birds of a feather

we get a variety of birds around the area... i was visiting a friend and yay... with rather warm temps out i was able to sit on the deck enjoying the mountain scene.  the bird feeders were full so there was no shortage of the wee little - and larger - ones flying quickly in and out.  i was trying to sit quietly, snapping shots with my camera hoping for good pictures. 

mostly though i was marveling at how quickly they were able to grab and go.  isn't that just like us humans?  we grab and go with everything we do these days, don't we?  barely stopping to enjoy anything... or pause to breathe... to take it in... to simply embrace what life has to offer us, be it good, bad or otherwise.  we just grab.  and then we grouse, because we haven't paused long enough... taken the moment we should have taken.  once these birds did their grabbing, they flew off to a nearby tree to sit for a minute and chomp on the seeds they'd gotten.  and to trill a little message to friends letting them know where the good stuff was at so they, too, could come and feast - take part in the eating.

i was blessed to be so near to god's itty-bitty creatures... see their markings, tiny faces glancing at me but too focused on the want of food to be afraid, the bold ones who dared to make direct eye contact... so cool.

relive some of the journey with me...

some of the top pics are of mountain black capped chick-a-dees.  the one bird who has the very sad looking eyes - which i think is because i told him i only wanted to take pictures of "pretty birds" - shame on me... is a house finch, i think.  it's not his fault he's on the dull side and actually "he" might be a "she."  and i'm not sure what kind the "groucho marx" look alike is...perhaps someone can help with him.  the ones towards the bottom are morning doves.  they weren't in any hurry at all... weren't going anywhere as they just sat in the food for quite some time.  you can tell because in the black and white doesn't it appear the little bird is having a bit of a chat with the doves?  as if to say, "ummm, hey fellas...don't ya think you've had enough already?  now it's my turn?"  i think that's just too funny.  i had quite the experience....

happy day.....