Monday, April 24, 2006

Happiness



And so remember this,
life is no abyss,
Somewhere there's a bluebird
of happiness.

-----

Eastern Bluebird (of my happiness), Sialia sialis.
Song lyrics by Edward Heyman and Harry Parr Davies.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm happy knowing that bluebirds are making a strong comeback. Didja see all of the bluebird boxes the pirate set up? I guess the world needs more pirates.

KFarmer said...

I have several bluebirds flashing around in my yard. I never get tired of looking at them- so pretty. Good picture :)

Christa said...

Beautiful photo. I wish I could see bluebirds around here (D.C.). The most colorful birds we see at the garden are goldfinches and cardinals. I love them, but it would be fantastic to see a bluebird!

Kay Cooke said...

Bluebirds seem so exotic to me. There are no bluebirds in my country. That is such a pretty photo. What is their song like?

Rurality said...

Thanks y'all. You can hear a recording of the song here.

I never saw bluebirds when I was growing up. They were in severe decline back then, due to pesticides I think. They're definitely making a comeback nowdays though. It was the brilliant blue of a bluebird in the sun that was the "wow" moment that got me interested in birdwatching in the first place!

This is a bird we saw very seldom at our old house, because they like open areas better. We've put up several boxes but so far I think they are only nesting in one of them.

Anonymous said...

Ahh, bluebirds. The wimps of the bird world, and yet so pretty! I've seen ours briefly this spring but not like last year. I wonder if the great crested flycatchers have chased them off?

When I was growing up my parents spent hours trying to encourage bluebirds, but the english sparrows would always chase them away. My parents went to enormous lengths to rid the birdhouses of english sparrows. We did mechanical traps and electrifying the birdhouse opening perches in the hopes of trapping or frying the sparrows. The bluebirds would just sit in the trees waiting for us to succeed. Wimps.

Now indigo buntings, there's a bird.

Dirty Fingernails said...

I grew up listening to the Moutain Bluebird in Idaho state bird of Idaho too, I know useless info).. I love the Eastern too. I will sit in my garden and just watch them fly into my maples..

meresy_g said...

That is such a great photo. I wish I had bluebirds. They are near us, but I've never seen them in our yard. So pretty.

Anonymous said...

oh, karen. what a little beauty!

doubleknot said...

Wish we had blue birds down here. We get robins in the winter but their bright red color has faded.
Nice picture.

Anonymous said...

Great shot! Looking at this I was reminded about seeing a bluebird for the first time some years ago while scrambling in a nearby provincial park. The park naturalist was motoring by and saw me standing in the middle of the road looking up at Blue on a wire. PN nearly ruined my whole day with a long discourse on why Blue is blue. I just wanted to bask in Blue's wonder is all.

And they are aren't they?

Wonder-ful.

mountainmelody said...

Great picture!

Rhodent said...

I love this picture!

roybe said...

put simply, beautiful

herhimnbryn said...

Hallo from Oz!
I found yr site via new gold dream blog. I love this image it immediatly reminds me of leonard Cohens song Bird on a Wire.
have bookmarked you.

Boxwood Cottage said...

Oh what a beauty! Great shot!