Feathered Friends

 Happiness Is... Enjoying Little Things

Wherever there are birds, there is hope. – Mehmet Murat Ildan

Birds are my favorite people.

No matter what yesterday was like, they always start the new day with a song.

Feed The Birds. A swarm of common MYNA, red-crested CARDINAL, Java SPARROWS and WILD CHICKEN gather on a sun-warmed grassy area. Monkey pod leaves rustle as ubiquitous PIGEONS glide effortlessly along the coastline, and small FINCHES flit between flowering plumeria trees. Photo: V.E.V. Waikiki Beach: Hawaii

Variety of endangered birds including the NEGROS FRUIT DOVE (bottom left) are conserved while breeding endangered species. Negros Forest Park

You’ll have a lot of respect for a bird after you try making a nest. – Cynthia Lewis

The WHITE TERN, also known as the FAIRY TERN, is a small, graceful seabird that is native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world.

It is predominantly white in color, with a glossy, smooth plumage that is almost transparent in the sunlight.

A pair had built a small simple nest made of twigs and other debris, barely large enough to hold the single egg that was laid on an umbrella tree branch. Colony Surf Grounds: Waikiki, Hawaii

Good morning, world! I’m youth. I’m joy. I’m a little bird that has broken out of the egg.

 TERN CHICK Fledging. The egg had hatched after around 21–22 days.

Downy chick is now fledging, meaning awaiting feathers and wing muscles to be sufficiently developed for flight.

Leftmost: Colorful bird cages filled with sunflower seeds, millet, and cracked corn await backyard feathered visitors.

I caught a glimpse of happiness, and saw it was a bird, fixing to take wing. – Richard Peck

Above right: AMERICAN ROBIN, the quintessential bird with its warm orange breast and cheery song, makes an early appearance at the end of winter. Photo: V.E.V. Columbus: March 2026

Right: In the stillness of winter, the bright red male NORTHERN CARDINAL with black around its face, red crest and beak is a beacon of hope, here pecking on scattered millet from a wind-fallen birdcage.

Above, rightmost: In the soft call of the MOURNING DOVE, we find echoes of love and loss. Photos: V.E.V. Columbus: March 2026

Left: Trio of ceramic birds, clockwise - TOUCAN souvenir, Costa Rica. Gifted mini BLUEBIRD by Fav Granddaughter (can you spot it?) on top of canister school project, also by FG; foreground. Mexican whistling bird

The bluebird carries the sky on his back. – Henry Thoreau

Right: Closeup of mini BLUEBIRD (less than an inch long from beak to tail)

Leftmost: White-glazed Mexican CERAMIC CHICKEN on foreground

Left: Birthday air plant gift from Second Daughter in CERAMIC BIRD vase. March 21, 2026

Faith is the bird… that sings when the dawn is still dark. – Rabindranath Tagore

 Lonely BLACKBIRD, perched in leafless maple tree branch, sings a song of solitude, echoing the heart's quiet yearnings. Columbus, March 2026

Pair of CANADA GOOSE has come back to signal spring. 

With a distinctive black head and neck, male bird stands as sentinel on church front. Columbus, March 22, 2026

Keep a green tree in your heart, and perhaps the singing birds will come.

 Have a glorious chirpin’ day!