The Birds ...

So, I have been filling my fb page with the birds I see outside my bedroom window, for a few months now.

People who know me, I'm sure, don't equate 'bird watching' to me, so I thought i would tell you why birds are such an important part of my life. 

It's about appreciating what I have now.

When I first became ill I spent years in bed. My greatest pleasure was hearing and seeing the House Martins swooping and stretching their wings in the wind, from my bedroom window. I loved their freedom and at that point, from my bed, very poorly, they were my only link to the outside world. I began to know their tweets and knew if one was sitting on the telephone wires outside my house. They were really the only pleasure i had in a shut off world. I owe my sanity to them really. They helped me remember beauty, the wind in the air, the heat of the sun on their wings and I knew the world continued to change season by season with new growth and life. 

As years have passed and I am out of bed usually 6 days out of 7, can now walk a short distance and am no longer in a wheelchair and I am enjoying life, I want to thank the birds for saving me, for giving me hope.

I don't have a garden where I live now, just a little decking area, but living in a bungalow with my window facing onto the decking, I have been able to set up a bird table and watch the birds again. I love to do this. I have a couple of families of Sparrows, a pair of Robins, a pair of Chaffinch, Starlings, Pigeons, a pair of Collared Doves, a pair of Great Tits, a Blue Tit and on just one occasion a pair of Goldfinch also on my feeders. Sadly there doesn't appear to be any House Martins in the area but I have seen a Swallow here. I also had the pleasure to spot a Woodpecker attached to the telegraph pole across the road too! 

I have an additional memory that makes the bird watching such a fulfilling thing for me to do. When I first met my Grandmother ( I was adopted and didn't meet her until I was about 30 years old), she used to sit in her bedroom which was the downstairs lounge converted, watching the birds out of the window. She loved watching the world go by too, but the birds I know, gave her great pleasure as they fed in her little front garden. I often think of her as I sit and watch my little bird families. 

Once again, when I feel too poorly to go out or after a difficult or tiring day, I have the birds to calm me and give me pleasure. Do what makes you happy in life. Find pleasure in the little things all around you. ​Grow Your Own Soul.   
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(All pictures mine except the House Martin).