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On this gorgeous, Georgia Sunday … it is a Fine Feathered Mother’s Day!  I love all the shades of blue in the sky and the greens in the trees and shrubs — delighting in the feathered splashes of red, yellow, and blue darting from perch to perch.

I remember standing out on the terrace with my own mother who was well-into her 90’s.  Mom was in a wheelchair in those days and seemed to me to be looking, aimlessly, out across the landscape.  There’s nothing like a captive audience to launch me into talking about the birds!  I began pointing and explaining.  When I tried to get Mom to fix her gaze on one bird in particular, she slowly shook her head, turned to me and said:  “Jo, frankly I’m not that interested.”  My mom never was a good liar.

Today, that terrace is a busy, fly-through restaurant.  At first light, I head outside with the live mealworms.  Before I can get back inside, I hear the clickity-clack of baby Bluebird feet dancing on the gutter overhead.  There’s nothing like dancing babies to start one’s day with a smile.

Baby birds are everywhere now.  If their yellow-lined, gaping beaks don’t give them away, watch for the excited flutter of a fledgling’s wings as it begs to be fed.  In the featured video, a mother Downy Woodpecker stuffs her beak with suet as she prepares to feed her young daughter.  As is true of those dancing, baby Blues — the young Downy just can’t wait another second.  She clumsily flies to the log and relishes the feast momma delivers.