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Health & Fitness

Summer Surprise

Contentment at the kitchen window

Nothing calms our lives quite like watching birds.  At Tanglewood Assisted Living, we have feeders everywhere.  Over the years, birds have become old friends, and we're always happy to see the transients return every spring.

In the spring, male Goldfinches change color from winter gray to the brightest shade of yellow.  They routinely cover a four foot tall thistle feeder like a golden totem pole.  

The White-breasted Nuthatch has the odd habit of eating upside-down at the feeder.  I assume gravity affects the nuthatch just as it does me and I get a headache watching her eat.

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One year a hawk began staking out the feeders, hoping to pick off an errant sparrow for dinner.  His presence kept all but the hungriest song birds away from the feeders until one day, while dive-bombing an inattentive chickadee, the hawk flew headlong into the glass window with an appalling thud.  After he recovered, he flew off, never to return.

After 15 years, and with help from Peterson's Field Guide to Birds, we've learn to recognize our regular visitors. We routinely see House Finches, Titmice, Downy Woodpeckers, Flickers, Cardinals, Sapsuckers, and Hummingbirds.

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Then suddenly this spring, a new visitor arrive, a Rose-breasted Grosbeak.  One of the most beautiful birds in the world, the male has a black head, a white belly and a brilliant rose-red crest on his chest.  He's so good looking, he made the cover of Peterson's Field Guide, the bird world equivalent of a model making the cover of Vogue.

At Tanglewood Assisted Living, seeing a new bird is cause for celebration so we baked brownies and put on a pot of decaf for an afternoon party.  We watched as the grosbeak returned, again and again to the feeder, showing off for his audience.

Then, after just a few days, he left.  Apparently he was just passing through.  Like a road-weary trucker, he stopped here for a break, ate his fill, rested, refueled and then flew on.  

Sometimes life's little pleasures don't last long.

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