Simply Balisha

Simply Balisha

Thursday, July 10, 2014

The Goldfinch and the Afghan by Balisha

The Goldfinch and the Afghan

While I was sitting on the porch, relaxing in nice weather...
A little bird came visiting with very golden feathers.
It was a Finch who landed on the afghan on the rail..
She looked at me with eyes so scared and flipped her little tail.
The afghan lying there... across the rail to dry..
The bird building her nest that day...saw it with her eye.
A bit of string attracted her...the fringe went all around..
She went to work and pulled that string without a single sound.
She stuffed her mouth and flew away...to her nest up in the tree...
Paid no attention to the world....especially not to me.
Her nest was needed right away...her babes would be so warm..
With fuzz she took from my afghan on that warm July morn. 
I ran to get a camera... and sat there oh so still..
She never returned that morning...I think she had her fill.
A lesson learned just yesterday while on the porch I sat...
My camera will be with me...you can be sure of that.
Balisha

I miss so many great pictures by not having my camera at the ready. It's hard to always take a camera around, while I'm doing work in the garden. My hands get dirty...where will I put the camera....don't want it to get dirty or wet...I feel like a packrat anyway, out in the yard. So much to carry around like my tools, waste bucket, sometimes my lawn cart, and always my chair. The camera just gets in the way. But yesterday it was a different story. I was just sitting on the porch....resting a bit....when this little goldfinch came flying in. I had put the afghan over the porch rail because it was damp. It was about 1 1/2 ft from me. She landed on the afghan and gave me a look. I didn't move an inch....I hardly took a breath. She tugged and tugged at the fringe...all the while keeping a "bird's eye view" on me. She made several trips back and forth from me to the Ash tree in the front yard. I felt safe getting up and sneaking into the house for the camera, while she was gone. I got back and set up the camera, so I wouldn't have to move an inch....and she didn't come back. I checked several times that day and didn't see her on the afghan. I left it there until night and then moved it to the back of the chair. I hope she got her nest built. I like to think of those baby birds all cuddled in my afghan. 
Balisha


8 comments:

  1. What a sweet story! I can just picture the babies wrapped in your afghan.

    I too miss pictures because I don't carry my camera with me.

    Have a nice day ~ FlowerLady

    ReplyDelete
  2. How sweet. I know what you mean about missing shots. Seems when I have mine at the ready then nothing happens. LOL! Have a lovely week.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a sweet image of the babies in the afghan yarn. I'm always missing something because my camera is inside too. Often I lay it on the porch glider, but don't drag it out where I'm digging and stuff so it doesn't get dirty. Love your poem!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I think that is so cool--how nice to know part of your afghan is surrounding the babies.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Isn't it fun to think about the little finch eggs hatching in their yarn lined nest! Today I was starting to get mad at the little gold finch that is back to tearing all of the petals off of my prettiest zinnias again this year. If he/she keeps this up there will be a shortage of zinnias for my hummingbirds. Too bad that the little finch doesn't seem to like to eat Japanese Beetles. There are zillions of them this year. Last year I only picked one bouquet of zinnias, because it felt like I was stealing food out of my hummingbirds' beaks. I usually take a lot of stuff with me out in the flower beds. I have a big old turquoise colored basket that I carry stuff for every contingency that I can think of. My bad knee has a limited amount of trips per day back and forth into the house. I have so often missed great pictures because I left the camera in the house. The hummingbirds always come close to me and do such cute things if I do not have my camera with me. It is unusual to see one if I have the camera along. Must be some kind of Murphy's Law of Hummingbird watching.

    ReplyDelete
  6. When I'm outside, I always have my phone with me and I've used the camera on that device in a pinch. It doesn't take the greatest pictures, but sometimes...better than nothing. I saw a goldfinch flying around here the other day too, but it was gone very quickly!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh what a cute story!! :) I remember seeing a Robin a month or so ago pulling at twine on the fence. It would have been twine from tying some plant or another last year. That poor Robin. So I went out with scissors and cut the twine loose for her but she never came back!

    I have yet to get a picture of hummers when they visit. They never visit if I have the camera on the porch. They wait till it is put away :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks so much for stopping by my blog! I know what you mean about missing a great photo, it has happened so many times to me! I have seen wrens do much the same thing with a bit of string or vine.

    ReplyDelete