When we lived in Burleson, we began to feed the wild birds and got great pleasure watching them. Rick was an avid porch-sitter and kept a small galvanized "garbage can" for this bird seed on the back porch near his chair. I was the one with the binoculars and the bird books identifying newcomers and making lists. Rick just sat in his chair and enjoyed watching them.
Sometime along in there, a Northern Mockingbird decided to make our yard his home. The first year his song was pretty but not very complex. We thought he might move on when winter came, but he stayed. The following spring, his song had become a bit more complex and he began to get friendly with us. We named him Tex since the Northern Mockingbird is the state bird of Texas. When Rick would mow on his riding mower, Tex would follow him flying from fencepost to fencepost, swooping down to gobble up insects stirred up by the mower blades. He wintered over with us again that winter.
By the third spring, he became quite the entertainer serenading us with a much longer song. I did some research and learned that you can tell a male mockingbird's age by the complexity and length of his song. Each year he will add more bird calls and songs. This makes him more attractive to the females as they know that he is a strong, long-lived bird. Tex was rewarded that summer with a fine mate. They nested in a tall, thick hedge at the back of our lot and Tex was quite proud when his brood fledged.
As the years went by, Tex became friendlier and friendlier. When Rick would do his woodworking in the garage, Tex would fly in and light on the wood he was so carefully measuring and hop from board to board chirping and giving advice. There was once that I thought Tex was going to follow Rick into the house. Tex changed his mind at the last minute, but Rick would have happily let him in.
The spring that we sold the house to make the move back to the Houston area, we estimated that Tex was seven years old and near the end of his lifespan. We hated to leave him but hoped that he would serenade the new owners and give them the pleasure he had given us over the years.
Once we were settled in our new home in Crosby, we again erected all our bird feeders and were rewarded with a large variety of birds in our big back yard, especially during spring and fall migration. We lamented the fact, however, that we didn't have a regular Northern Mockingbird to serenade us and we frequently talked about Tex and how we missed him. Oh, we'd have an occasional mockingbird but none were regulars.
The morning after Rick died, I took my morning coffee to the back porch. There had been a violent, but glorious, thunderstorm the night before. It had cleared overnight and the air was clean and the droplets of water left by the storm were sparkling in the early morning sun. It was then that I heard him. A Northern Mockingbird lit in the tall crape myrtle and began to serenade me. Remembering Tex and times gone by, I cried.
I don't think it was a coincidence that the mockingbird came that morning. I believe that he was sent to cheer me and remind me to continue to see and hear all the beauty that is in this world. He comes every morning and sings while I have my morning coffee. I have named him Tex.
Sometime along in there, a Northern Mockingbird decided to make our yard his home. The first year his song was pretty but not very complex. We thought he might move on when winter came, but he stayed. The following spring, his song had become a bit more complex and he began to get friendly with us. We named him Tex since the Northern Mockingbird is the state bird of Texas. When Rick would mow on his riding mower, Tex would follow him flying from fencepost to fencepost, swooping down to gobble up insects stirred up by the mower blades. He wintered over with us again that winter.
By the third spring, he became quite the entertainer serenading us with a much longer song. I did some research and learned that you can tell a male mockingbird's age by the complexity and length of his song. Each year he will add more bird calls and songs. This makes him more attractive to the females as they know that he is a strong, long-lived bird. Tex was rewarded that summer with a fine mate. They nested in a tall, thick hedge at the back of our lot and Tex was quite proud when his brood fledged.
As the years went by, Tex became friendlier and friendlier. When Rick would do his woodworking in the garage, Tex would fly in and light on the wood he was so carefully measuring and hop from board to board chirping and giving advice. There was once that I thought Tex was going to follow Rick into the house. Tex changed his mind at the last minute, but Rick would have happily let him in.
The spring that we sold the house to make the move back to the Houston area, we estimated that Tex was seven years old and near the end of his lifespan. We hated to leave him but hoped that he would serenade the new owners and give them the pleasure he had given us over the years.
Once we were settled in our new home in Crosby, we again erected all our bird feeders and were rewarded with a large variety of birds in our big back yard, especially during spring and fall migration. We lamented the fact, however, that we didn't have a regular Northern Mockingbird to serenade us and we frequently talked about Tex and how we missed him. Oh, we'd have an occasional mockingbird but none were regulars.
The morning after Rick died, I took my morning coffee to the back porch. There had been a violent, but glorious, thunderstorm the night before. It had cleared overnight and the air was clean and the droplets of water left by the storm were sparkling in the early morning sun. It was then that I heard him. A Northern Mockingbird lit in the tall crape myrtle and began to serenade me. Remembering Tex and times gone by, I cried.
I don't think it was a coincidence that the mockingbird came that morning. I believe that he was sent to cheer me and remind me to continue to see and hear all the beauty that is in this world. He comes every morning and sings while I have my morning coffee. I have named him Tex.
No comments:
Post a Comment