I am very fortunate and rent a little cottage on acreage in the country.  The house is small and very cozy, tucked away on the side of the lot.  Behind me is an apple orchard.  The setting is idyllic and is enhanced by the animal and bird life I experience. It is my personal healing and de-stressing zone.

I hang humming bird feeders and I also put out bird seed for the birds.  I do this year ‘round.   So this attracts an amazing (and constant) variety of birds.   The hummingbirds are truly amazing wee birds.  I love watching them hover near the feeder, assessing whether or not they should sit on the perch and have a drink.  They do of course and it’s a gift to be able to observe them up close.  They are so delicate, like mini helicopters as they zoom forward, backward, up and down.

Whenever I look outside, it is pure eye candy.  In one morning, I saw morning doves, humming birds, a male pheasant, quail, sparrows, a variegated woodpecker and chickadees.  Also visiting with some regularity are lazuli buntings, red winged black birds, rufus sided towhees, orioles and stellar jays from time to time. 

My favourite birds are the quail.  They gather under the big ponderosa pine and murmur and cluck amongst themselves as they peck at the fallen seeds. They seem to be such busy-bodies and appear to be very social as they all eat together.  Sometimes they quarrel and there is great leaping and road-runner-type scooting about, looking indignant and huffy. 

Some time ago I watched as a mischievous magpie jumped onto my feeder purposefully making it swing, so that the seed would fall to the ground.  He would then jump down and gobble up as much as he could. I watched as he repeated this exercise several times.   He had figured out he was too big to fit on the feeder and was bound and determined to obtain his share of the seed.  He ended with a nice long refreshing drink from the birdbath, nearly tipping it over as he flew off.

Then there was the time that a moose (yearling) was caught in the orchard.  I was sitting at my computer very early one summer morning when out of the corner of my eye I saw a rather huge form move past the window.  “Wow, that’s a big deer” I thought.  I looked out and saw the back end of a moose majestically walking in between the apple trees. 

While still in my night attire, I grabbed my camera and went to run out the door, when I realized that the automatic sprinklers were on.  So, when one sprinkler moved to one side, I’d run to a big tree and hide behind it.  Then another sprinkler would change direction and I’d run to the corner of the storage hut, and then the final sprinkler would change and I sneak down the side of the hut to hide behind the bushes.  Of course by this time my pj’s were wet and my slippers were sodden as well.   The moment I’d give up and return to my computer, Mr. Moose would wander by again. I’d go out again, with the same results.  I did this several times and the last time, the moose actually stopped and looked in the window at me.  He might as well have said “nyah, nyah, nyah”.   It was one of those funny life moments and I remember laughing out loud and thinking how smart he was. 

Mother Nature is the best stress reliever.  Whether it is Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall,  make time to slow down and enjoy the visual buffet she has to offer.

Photo: Contributed - (Flickr user, stasiland)