Fledgling Delight

It’s the time of year when fledglings figure out who they are; the little cardinals bop around on the ground wondering why the adults are at the feeders – the mourning doves are on the ground, shouldn’t little cardinals be on the ground too?

Lily was lying on the front porch when a baby titmouse landed two feet from her – Lily looked at the bird and the bird looked at Lily as if to say, “What are you?” When Lily didn’t answer the bird flew away.

On the deck were two fledgling wrens, it had just rained and they were wet. They flew onto the wood furniture and spread their little wings out to dry, all the while a parent looked on – we watched and the parent watched.

As I walked to the vegetable garden I stopped to gaze on three fledgling thrushes hopping on the ground, one with a worm in its mouth. In a nearby evergreen two adult thrushes looked on; after a minute or two I made a step and the little ones flew into the tree with the adults.

Thank you Father for your creation – thank you for the delight you give us through creation. What joy, what pleasure, what beauty, what tenderness.