wren Archives - Owl Medicine: Shamanic Healing

Bird Bonus

You all know how much I love my feathered friends. I might be disinclined to slap on my boots and bundle up to shovel snow – but I’ll do it to fill the feeders for my buds. And now, what do I discover to my delight? As I increase the variety of visitors to my neck of the woods (or plot of feeders, as it were), I just might receive the equivalent of a bird bonus in my emotional bank account!

Who knew?

And here I thought it was all because I’m just a softy for Mother Earth and all her creatures. But no. It turns out that I’ve learned from this article that the results of a study determined that if we’re exposed to 14 different species of birds on a regular basis, we experience the satisfaction and happiness that an extra $150/month in our bank account would bring us.

What say you, Chickadee? – Photo: L. Weikel

A Puzzle

I have to admit, the precision with which the amount of happiness assessed – in dollar figures, no less, when it appeared to be a British study – poses a bit of a puzzle to me. And I have to say, the addition of $150/month in my bank account might bring me a cascade of happiness raining down upon my head, but I doubt it would have as big an impact upon the hedge fund manager down the road.

Just a thought.

But would that mean that the hedge fund manager would need 140 different species to show up at her feeder to feel the same feels engendered by visits from our avian brothers and sisters that I might get from 14? Does it mean that hedge fund managers are hopelessly destined to never feeling as much joy from birding as I might be?

One might think being a HEDGE fund manager might attract enough nesting birds to…

Oh man, you can tell I’m digging deep for tonight’s post.

But the link is real! And quite honestly, I do believe the more birds that visit our lives each and every day, the happier we are. And I honestly and sincerely can’t put a dollar figure on the joy my birds bring me.

I just love them.

House Sparrows Hangin’ – Photo: L. Weikel

(T-293)

Feeder in Winter Snowstorm – Photo: L. Weikel

One Thing Better

I’m luxuriating in the cocoon created by a luscious snowstorm. There’s nothing better than the muffled whisper of snow falling in the midst of a forest. Well – maybe there’s one thing better: the prospect that the snow may fall even harder and faster tomorrow, and we’ll have the chance to enjoy the wintry isolation yet another day.

Karl and I walked this evening, well after dark, and not a single car passed us on our two mile trek. The silence was exquisite. The firelight flickering across the snow from the neighbor’s bay window was warm and inviting, and I could just imagine him wrapped in an afghan reading a favorite book.

The Outset

Knowing that there’s a good chance we’ll get a decent amount of snowfall in this system, I took a few photos of my feathered friends as they stocked up on the sunflower seeds I’d just packed into their feeders. The photo at the top of this was taken at 12:12 this afternoon – only shortly after the snowstorm arrived.

I don’t know if you can see it, but a chickadee was in the midst of making what could almost be called a crash landing into the feeder just as I took the shot. It’s too bad you can’t get the full flavor of the ‘live’ photo; it was rather amusing.

I took this photo, though, to document the progression of the storm. I intend to take another photo at 12:12 tomorrow (Monday) – just for comparison’s sake.

The photo below is simply offered to document the fact that we have some ginormous wrens in our neck of the woods. This particular wren has to be twice the size of the others I’ve seen. It’s tough to get a photo of it for comparison’s sake, though, because it seems to almost stamp its feet at the smaller wrens, scaring them away.

Franken Wren – Photo: L. Weikel

Enjoy the Moment

Wishing all of you a delectable Monday. I hope no one needs to drive anywhere and you can get whatever pressing obligations you have taken care of expeditiously enough to allow you some time to just be. Maybe the snow will continue falling long enough for you to take a walk tomorrow evening, too.

Happy Imbolc. Happy 1^st day of February.