Chickadee I

…do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. – Hebrews 6:12

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. – Galatians 6:9 NIV

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen – Isaiah 43:18-20 NIV

Chickadees have been one of my favorite birds since I was a child. I remember watching them out of our dining room window as they and other species came to our bird feeders during the cold, short days of winter. Sometimes I would bundle up and stand in the snow near one of our feeders, trying not to move anything except my eyeballs. Suddenly I’d catch the movement of a black and white rocket of a bird flitting up to our offering of birdseed.

The chickadee would alight on the feeder, announce his arrival with a quick DEE-DEE proclamation, snatch up a sunflower seed, and then dart off to a nearby tree branch. From there he would commence to whacking away at the seed with his tiny bill until securing the life-giving kernel inside.

My nearness to the feeder would often deter other birds from coming to the seed, but not the chickadee. Once in a while we’d look each other in the eye for a moment, perhaps like some kind of unspoken communication of mutual respect. As I mentioned in earlier posts, being near a wild critter has always been a surreal, special time in my life (see Deer Touch, Evening Grosbeak, Cedar Waxwing, Butterflies I Another Mystery, Praying Mantis II, and Dragonfly).     

For years, birdboxes have hung from many of the trees and out-buildings around our home near the mountains. Most of the boxes I made out of old pallets or scrap lumber, and a few I found lying on the ground whilst hiking around abandoned farms.

One of the birds I had always hoped would nest in our yard was the chickadee. My hope would rise as I’d see a chickadee land on a box in the springtime, disappear inside, then a short time later fly out again.

But year after year, they refused to use one of our nesting boxes.

Never, not even once.

I wish I could have asked one of the birds just what was it about the box that he didn’t like? Was the entrance hole too small? Too big? Was the box too deep? Or too shallow? Too much sun? Too much shade?

Then It Happened

For whatever reason, things changed this year. As you can see from the above photo, one of the adult chickadees using our nesting box caught a mouthful of insects to feed the young ones inside.

There are a few other things of note in the photo:

This same box was used by nuthatches years ago. Notice the old yellow sap near the entrance hole. I explained why nuthatches place this sap around the opening to their nests in my post Nuthatch Springtime In The Mountains VI.

Also notice the fur sticking out of the cracks in the birdbox. That hair looks suspiciously like it came from our yellow lab, Cosmos the Wonderdog. He is a very giving fellow, and likes to shed and share his fur far and wide with as many critters as he can!

As the Lord tells us in the above Scriptures, He offers hope to those of us who have been waiting a long time for something He has promised us in His Word, the Bible. So, if that happens to describe you today, I encourage you not to grow weary or lose patience in believing for what you are hoping. For we will harvest our reward if we don’t give up. He promises, and He is faithful.

If you are not sure how you can have a relationship with the One Who created all the chickadees and the entire universe as well, I encourage you to see Got God?

Hang in there. And I hope you have a really great day!