The Call of the Wild

If you’re a regular visitor you’ve probably noted that I haven’t been out birding for nearly three weeks now, largely because we’ve had visitors the last two or three weeks, but also because I’ve been suffering from a serious cold, one I finally got antibiotics for today. So hopefully, I’ll get out at least once this week when the sunshine returns.

While I’ve been stuck in the house, though, I’ve been visited repeatedly by a little Song Sparrow. At first, it sat in the front garden on the tallest plants repeating its song for hours on end.

I assumed he was doing so to attract a mate. Now I’m beginning to have my doubts,

Recently, whenever someone sits down to watch television in the front room during the day, or at least when I do, he sits on the rail, staring in, jumping from one spot to another, all the time peering inside. He’ll stand at the bottom of the window sill or hang from the top, as if trying to see everything there is to see. Even two-year-old Zoe commented on the strange little bird hopping back and forth.

I’m sure there must be some rational explanation for its behavior, but lately I’ve begun to imagine this Song Sparrow is trying to call me out, call me back to birding, knowing that I’ll heal more quickly if I’m out enjoying myself and following my heart rather than sitting inside nursing a silly cold.