Red-wing Sings. Photograph, 7 x 5 in. Copyright 2008, Tania Nault.
Yesterday I met my mom, sister and brother, and their families, out at Fort Qu’Appelle to celebrate Mother’s Day. My grandmother’s favourite restaurant was KFC and we’d go for dinner every Mother’s Day. If the weather’s nice, like it was yesterday, we’ll take our food and eat at the park next to the lake, then the adults sit and visit while the kids play. After my grandmother passed away, there was some suggestion of changing locales or doing something different, but I didn’t like that idea at all (read: I cried and sulked like a spoiled two-year old). My family doesn’t have a tonne of traditions, but I’m very attached to the ones we have.
I took my camera, got a few shots of the kids on the beach and a couple passing birds, including the Red-winged Black bird above. All-in-all it was a great day, I hope yours was equally enjoyable.
the cries of kestrals
as street sweepers pass
spring arrives
I know one of the traditional signs of spring for many people is sighting their first robin of the year. For me however, it’s hearing my first kestral “klee-klee-kleeing” over the evergreen trees in our neighbourhood. Another sure sign of spring in the city is the appearance of street sweeping equipment out collecting the remains of a winter’s worth of sand. This morning I heard both things from my studio.
indoor sparrows!
my winter renovation
errand forgotten
This past weekend I was working on my daughter’s bedroom reno (still) and had to run over to the local ‘Depot to pick up a new curtain rod. As I was walking through one of the aisles, I heard the distinctive chirping of House Sparrows. After I watched them for a while, I asked around and apparently, a small group of about eight birds has made their winter home inside the store. They pick up dropped seed in the feed aisle, and drink and bathe in the horticultural department fountain.
I know House Sparrows are an introduced species to North America, and I know they are considered invasive and destructive to some native species, like Bluebirds, but despite all that, there’s something about them I like. After all, if you think about it, House Sparrows embody many attributes we admire in ourselves: they’re industrious, hardy, adaptive and social. A now common bird across Canada and the United States, House Sparrows have experienced declining numbers in their native Europe for the past several years and in Great Britain it’s estimated that their numbers have dropped by almost half in the last 30 years. And if an animal as hardy as the House Sparrow is finding it hard to make a living somewhere, that can only mean things are really getting tough out there.
Against the Cold: House Sparrow. Photograph, 7 x 5 in. Copyright 2008, Tania Nault.
