Feather Love

This is a wonderful time of year for watching goldfinches hang upside down and munch on niger seed. We are lucky, these lovely little bursts of color stay throughout the year.

I am convinced that they are French as they are quite insistent on fresh, dry niger seed and turn up their beaks to seed which has even a touch of dampness. Mais non! Snobby as they may appear, the don’t mind sharing their feed with orioles.

Bluejays, on the other hand, are definitely American. They everything and fast and a lot and all the time and chase away any other bird that gets in their way. Ah but they are beautiful and athletic. In the morning after I put out peanuts in the shell, their cuisine of choice, the jays call out as they begin their descent into the courtyard. With maneuvers that mimic the Berlin airlift, two bluejays circle above the courtyard, two land in the tree to guard and warn against the approach of cats, while two more swoop down to grab a nut before flying off. What showmen!

And then there is the truly magnificent. We are fortunate enough to have an eagle’s nest on our property.

What pleasure watching those baby eagles gave us including the amazement which ensued from watching the mama eagle being intimidated by an outdoor cat. Not to worry, neither eagle nor cat were injured by this encounter.

And then there are the closest thing Ravensfield Farm has to fairies in the garden, our hummingbirds who flit in, out and around so unpredictably. And who are so fast, that they escape being photographed.

I can’t forget the crows and ravens for which the farm is named. Beautiful, bold and brilliant they caw and quark and make known their presence.

And last but not least our proud Minnesota state bird, the MOSQUITO! They zoom, they multiply, they bite , they sting---what would a Minnesota summer be without them?