Greetings All ~
I like to do a little birdwatching each day. Much of that activity involves bird listening. I live in suburban Los Angeles. The species are wide-ranging and varied. So are the songs and calls. Over the years, I’ve learned to distinguish the peeps of nestlings among them.
This summer my yard and its immediate area had a good number of family groups. Purple finches built their nest under an awning of my house. Orioles built high in the eucalyptus. Hummingbirds darted under the eaves to gather spider webs for their nests.
But it’s the mockingbirds who really caught my attention.
Let’s just note that they are a bold and noisy lot. It’s their way. They mock, afterall. They pick up an array of songs and they seem to have fun, or at the very least, are busy. A pair settled into the backyard this year. The Papa will sit at the highest peak on my house and drop small stones or seeds onto the patio cover. Why? It makes a noticeable noise. Beyond that I have no idea. They also spent a lot of time sounding the alarm and dive-bombing my cat Nellie; a sure sign of a nearby nest.
You can track a nest by simply watching a pair fly to the same spot over and over. It’s quiet at first, as they build and incubate. But after the babes hatch and feeding starts, there is a frantic cacophony of the nestlings begging, “Feed me first!” They’re noisy when din-din shows up at the nest. They go quiet when the parents leave. By listening carefully, just around Solstice time, you can hear these high-pitched entreaties rise and fall.
Babies fledged and nests emptied about 2-3 weeks ago, depending on conditions. But there was one high-pitched voice left. A single mockingbird chick, now too big for the nest, but not flying. It stayed in the general vicinity of its former home, in and around a nearby hedge. As it grew, the “feed me” peeps got louder, more frequent and, quite frankly, much more irritating.
But these parents… Day after day, more than a week after everyone else had left, Mama and Papa still tended to this one. This one needed more time before it could spread its wings and go.
It occurred to me that there were times when I pushed my children too hard, before they were ready. Being impatient by a pace slower than expected; so irritating, like those last “feed me” peeps. And how many times have I expected friends, spouses, students, even the whole human race to be farther along than they were? How many times have I placed that same expectation on myself?
Seeing things to fruition, without expectation. How about utilizing that mis-perceived “longer-time-than-necessary” for action and compassion, so that a person or situation can become fully-fledged?
There’s an old Civil War-era song, “Listen to the Mockingbird.” (You may recognize it from old cartoons.) Its wisdom rests right in the title. Hear yourself as the patient parent or even the potential fledgling. Simply allow yourself and others time.
What’s going on in your world? Please let me know. I’ve really enjoyed hearing from you.
All Good Things,
Vicky Jap Dharam Rose
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