Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Don't Mess With Texas-Mockingibrd Style

I have just been entertained for over thirty minutes by the birds outside the windows.  In the flowerbed of roses and snapdragons is a bird bath and bird feeder.  It took several days but the birds finally discovered the feeder is now stocked full.  The doves were the first to return and then the mockingbirds.  Today, some of those trashy birds that no one can get rid of and fly in packs, I forget their names, have now discovered the feeder full of goodies.  Since these trash birds fly in packs they can quickly take over a bird feeder in nothing flat.  The doves put up a little bit of a fight but soon they are relegated to the seed that has fallen on the ground.  A brave dove will attempt another fly by of the feeder and quickly again returns to the friendly confines of the ground.  I tried to help the doves by making noise to chase off the piggy birds and it worked for a few minutes only to have the return of the pack.  That is until a beautiful, singing a song mockingbird showed up.  There's a new sheriff in town.  This one mockingbird began to put on an air show that rivals anything that the History Channel and the Military Channel have to offer in the vein of famous air battles.  This little mockingbird cleared the pack chasing them from our yard into the trees off in the distance.  Flight 99 of the Mockingbird express did another flyover and began chasing the next set of birds.  The airshow and stunts this bird performed had me applauding.  Mockingbird was chasing those birds away and sometimes into our windows, much to the delight of Buddy. 

The mockingbird never messes with the doves and in fact it looks like he's trying to help them.  So MB 1 is taking out the enemy, the doves return to the feeder.  This in fact is a fabulous subplot to the whole scenario.  One dove can't quite figure out how to fly off the top of the feeder's roof and onto the ledge where other birds are perched eating.  This little dove hops and hops and hops, making his way all around the roof.  I think there are a couple of doves doing the age old mating dance among the flowers and so far no one has hooked up yet.  If they had the entertaining show would now have to be rated PG 13.  A rebuffed male dove will fly up onto the fence and with his pride seemingly hurt chase off any other bird who happened to be sitting on the fence, except the mockingbird.  The females fly up onto the shepherd's hook waiting for the chase to begin once again.  In the midst of all this flirting and wooing a few of the trash birds make their way back ever so warily to the feeder.  I could see the mockingbird in the distance.  He had landed and rested on the branch of a tree.  Just as the birds made their move to the feeder this bird flies faster than a speeding bullet and once again performs feats of brilliance in the air and clears out the feeder.

This mockingbird is Batman or maybe more like Superman.  In between the clearing of the feeder sans the doves, this mockingbird lites onto the fence and sings his heart out.  It is just beautiful!  Maybe this bird is more like Tarzan.  It almost seems to me that singing on the fence has a bit of a Johnny Weissmueller Tarzan call about it. 

With #livingwonderstruck so fresh in my spirit, I am in awe of the details of bird life I got to see in action.  I had to go to Psalm 104 again and read of God's creation, in which the birds get at least two mentions.  The mockingbird is singing and the doves are cooing.  Thank you Lord. 

I know that the Don't Mess with Texas saying is really about litter and taking care of the trash on the highways of Texas, but I'm telling you this Texas Mockingbird is taking care of the trash at the bird feeder.  Don't Mess With Texas Mockingbirds!!!

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