Tuesday, March 22, 2011

A thought for our feathered friends





Minus 24 degrees C is what caught my eye when I started my car at 12.30 AM, returning home from a 25 year wedding anniversary party.  Are you wondering how we survive ? Yes we do with the attittude – it’s never bad weather , it is only bad clothes.  My thoughts then went out to those in the wild. I was happy I put PEPPER my rabbit IN before I left.  (I compiled this post some weeks ago  but we still have snow and cold temperatures though not that severe :-) ).

Is it something with the extreme conditions that make people more conscious and aware of the needs of others or is it that all cultures have passed on the beliefs, values and life experiences to establish credible ethical and moral care - just like what we are seeing in Japan now.  The case in point here is how well the visitors to our gardens are taken care of. The chirping birds survive the extreme winters here with the food and water people provide . The feeders are always  topped up to prevent them from having a wasted visit, which they  just cannot afford as they need lots and lots of energy to keep them warm during the long winter nights. It is as common a site in the grocery store to see people pick up a bag of bird feed as they would pick a milk carton.  This brings back to me the memory of my grandpa always passing on the first morsel of  food served to him to the birds outside in the name of his forefathers. I do not know the religious significance of it though. 
 Let us now peep into the gardens in my neighborhood :-)


Grø is 83 yrs whom I see bicycling in our small streets shopping food for her and her birds

Rakel - my neighbor's aesthetics show in her birds house too.


It's just not birds alone look at this special visitor on my balcony one morning


some new bird houses at this Crafts Mela I went some weeks ago





Let's do our 2 cents in whatever we can.

9 comments:

  1. Like that attitude...the birds houses are so pretty, more so the stories you weave around everyday mundane stuff...lovely post Shanti

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  2. Thank you. I am Shanthi with a double 'h' :-). By the way where do you live- you are the first one to comment on my posts.

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  3. Hi Shanthi,
    The bird houses are beautiful! I have been looking all over for the right birdhouse, and your post has given me a few ideas. I also read about this man in Mumbai who has designed bird houses especially for sparrows who are on the endangered list right now...
    Love the cold weather pics on your blog...and that little squirrel - he is adorable!

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  4. Good post! Love the pictures and the stories...I live in Norway and its amazing how you have picked up on the small and similar gestures that we do around the world to show our love and care towards Mother Nature.

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  5. I used to throw a handful of bird seed on the hard ice when my son said, Amma, you need to put it in a small bowl. So bowl it is :). Until the snow melts it is his job or mine to make sure that it filled with seed for the squirrels and birds that are unfortunate enough to stay back. On a pleasant note, yesterday I saw my first Pileated Woodpecker of the season. Spring is HERE!!!!!

    My3

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  6. @ Sharon - Oh when and why are on earth are the sparrows on the endagered list. I literally grew up with them.

    @Prasantha - Thank you :-)

    @My3 - isn't that a wonderful feeling when you see the birds flocking to your yard for food. I am jealous. But I think in a weeks time we will be done with the all the snow around :-)

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  7. aaawww... such pretty bird houses.. In Dubai... the birds normally look out for water in the summer months... thats when our bird bath has visitors...

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  8. *sigh* the bird houses are soo adorable, I could not find something like this here in india ....Well Shanthi this Post is really brilliant and full of learning. I am overwhelmed that someone from the other end of the earth equally cares for the birds too. Thankyou once again for linking in...

    xxx
    Shivani

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