Life Finds a Way

One day while going to put out birdseed, I saw this sunflower growing out of the side of the sassafras stump where I always put a cupful of seeds and peanuts.  I was struck by the truth it represents – no matter how impossible it may seem, life always finds a way.

Our spring weather has been a real mixed bag with maybe one day out of seven being decent.  Lately the cold, wind, rain and clouds have won out.  Despite this, birds have been showing up in greater numbers at my feeders and I’ve been spending a lot of time in front of the picture window snapping photos.  I get quite a wide variety here in suburban Michigan.

Mourning dove

I am not a mourning dove fan – personally I see them as pigs with wings – but I was pretty pleased with the quality of this photo.  It isn’t cropped at all. (Click on any photo to see a larger view.)

American goldfinch

At least there are A LOT of goldfinches around to make up for the lack of sunshine.

Female downy woodpecker

This photo of the female downy woodpecker is also un-cropped.  There was a male as well but he was playing peek-a-boo with me the whole time and I never could get a photo of him.

Male rose-breasted grosbeak

Today I saw my first rose-breasted grosbeak of the year.  He only stayed long enough for one photo.  This isn’t the best quality as the lighting outside is dismal today.  I love rose-breasted grosbeaks – but then I say that about all the birds!

Tufted titmouse

I’m shocked I got a photo of this tufted titmouse.  They are not ones to sit still long enough for me to focus on them!

Female cardinal

Male cardinal

You can tell how windy it is today by looking at how the female cardinal’s feathers are being blown around.  The male was feeding the female but of course I never got a photo of that, no matter how many times I tried!

I’ve had many other species as well: black-capped chickadees, red-bellied woodpeckers, white-breasted nuthatches, red-winged black birds, white-crowned sparrow (which I photographed but they were a bit blurry 😦 ) European sparrows, house finches, blue jays etc, etc.

This bunny has also found my feeders a good place to forage for food.  It has been hanging around a lot lately.

My neighbor informs me I also had a wild turkey eating from the ground, but I must have been at work when that visitor arrived and missed a photo opportunity.

On one of the only decent days we’ve had in the past week, Mark worked at finishing the fenced yard for the dogs.  He nearly doubled the amount of fenced-in area they have to play in.  Ruby and Daisy love it!  Before he raked and mowed the line where the old fence used to be, Ruby enjoyed laying in the deep leaves.

Ruby basking in the sun on the one nice day we’ve had in the past week!

Even though it has been cold, spring still struggles to come forth.  I took this picture of a wild violet while I was shooting bird photos, meaning it was taken from behind the window glass while kneeling on my sofa. 🙂  Purple is my favorite color, so I love violets!  The color really caught my eye in the midst of all the drab.

Being a complete garden failure, I love flowers that grow without any help from me! 🙂  I could have gotten a much better picture if I had wanted to go out in the cold wind, which I obviously didn’t.

There has been a lot of bad news for the United States this week – so many devastating storms, tornadoes, flooding.  It’s important to remember that even when all seems lost – life always finds a way.  Even when things look awful – there will always be beauty to be seen if we just look for it.