Before we wrap up our series on wild birds with one last post on our unofficial mascot Spoggy the sparrow, I'd be remiss not to pass along one of the most wide-ranging and engrossing resources I've come across on the subject.  I'll be forever grateful to my cousin Ben Aldridge for exposing me to The Life of Birds, a BBC television series narrated by the always engaging David Attenborough.

The series is made up of ten 50-minute episodes (which you can watch for free on YouTube), each of which examines primarily wild birds by a different theme: the mystery of flight, diets, communication, mating and birthing, and more.  The range of birds portrayed in terms of location, size, coloring and personality is staggering, and infinitely captivating. 

I wish I could remember more specifics than I do; I guess I'll just have to watch the set again in the near future!  But here's a clip from perhaps my favorite episode on communication, featuring the head-shaking mimicking capacities of the lyre bird:

Ironically, I happened to read Psalm 104 today, "The birds of the air nest by the waters; they sing among the branches. ...  There the birds make their nests; the stork has its home in the pine trees" (vs 12, 17).  Also, "How many are your works, O Lord!  In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures" (vs 24).

A while back, Jonathan Samuelson pointed me to a poem by William Everson, which mirrors Psalm 104 and the avian wonders on display in The Life of Birds, and with unmatched literary and theological poignancy.  It would be hard to imagine a better picture of God's relationship with His winged creatures.  The entire poem is worth a tribute post of its own, including the resounding climax, but here are just a few phrases from "A Canticle to the Waterbirds" (The Veritable Years: Poems 1949-1966, Black Sparrow '98):

Clack your beaks you cormorants and kittiwakes,
North on those rock-croppings finger-jutted into the rough Pacific surge;
You migratory terns and pipers who leave but the temporal clawtrack written on sandbars there of your presence;
Grebes and pelicans; you comber-picking scoters and you shorelong gulls;

... For you hold the heart of His mighty fastnesses,
And shape the life of His indeterminate realms.
You are everywhere on the lonesome shores of His wide creation.
You keep seclusion where no man may go, giving Him praise;

(dvd released by BBC Video in 2002)

{could you help not one sparrow and our blog?}

This is a beautifully written and poignantly made case for making a special effort to pay attention to the birds which seem to, sometimes elusively and often eclectically, cohabit our immediate world.  I'm very grateful to Kendra Langdon Juskus, managing editor for creation care group Flourish and their excellent blog, for sharing "Confessions of a Reluctant Birder":

We step out of the blustery openness of the main path, leaving its wide curve through the prairie and entering a quiet grove of willows.  There’s a pool of water here in late spring, and a heron rookery that fills the tops of the willows with precariously perched nests and the awkward flight of gawky birds.

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We featured the exceptional animal-themed art of Tracey Clarke last Spring, and I've appreciated following Tracey's very thoughtful reflections on her blog The Helium Burden since.  I happened across a post of her's which adds an important dimension to our series on wild birds and their place in our world, often our own backyard.  "The Pressure Washers Meant it for Evil but God Meant it for Good" includes a moral for us as well, in the tradition of many New Testament references to domestic birds (and much like Dean Ohlman's recent post on the chickadees):

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Continuing the theme of paying some overdue attention to the actual "sparrows" and their cousins which inhabit our world, Dean Ohlman has another excellent post in which his favorite domestic bird, the little chickadee, provides a poignant reminder of not one sparrow's cornerstone verse: "Of Chickadees and Wall Street" ...

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