WQ - Bird Watching

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I'm participating in the Wednesday Quotes link-up hosted by Marsha at Always Write. We're considering how we are inspired by nature, and by animals in particular. 

Just last week this was my choice for my Scripture and a Snapshot post, and I hadn't even looked at the upcoming WQ prompt yet:

"But ask the animals, and they will teach you,

or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you;

or speak to the earth, and it will teach you,

or let the fish in the sea inform you.

Which of all these does not know

that the hand of the LORD has done this?

In his hand is the life of every creature

and the breath of all mankind."

. . .

"To God belong wisdom and power;

counsel and understanding are his."

~Job 12:7-10, 13~

I would not necessarily call myself a nature lover, but I do like hiking through nature areas and visiting wildlife preserves. There's always that hope and that chance that I'll encounter the animals (safely!!), or that I'll spot a favorite bird or one that I haven't yet checked in my Life List on the Merlin app. If you enjoy birdwatching and want a free app to help you identify and keep track of the ones you encounter, check out this app - I love it!

But anyway. I do enjoy birdwatching. Birds are fascinating to me. It's remarkable that they can migrate those long distances, that they navigate accurately and return to the same spots. Their songs, their plumage, their nests are so varied and interesting.

Birds are the most popular group in the animal kingdom. We feed them and tame them and think we know them. And yet they inhabit a world which is really rather mysterious. ~David Attenborough

Each species is a masterpiece, a creation assembled with extreme care and genius. ~E.O. Wilson

There is nothing in which the birds differ more from man than the way in which they can build and yet leave a landscape as it was before. ~Robert Wilson Lynd

I once had a sparrow alight upon my shoulder for a moment, while I was hoeing in a village garden, and I felt that I was more distinguished by that circumstance than I should have been by any epaulet I could have worn. ~Henry David Thoreau

A birdsong can even, for a moment, make the whole world into a sky within us, because we feel that the bird does not distinguish between its heart and the world's. ~Rainer Maria Rilke

Birdsong brings relief to my longing. I am just as ecstatic as they are, but with nothing to say. ~Rumi

Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best. ~Henry Van Dyke

That last quote reminds me of a couple of birds that I like that are unusual choices. On my visit back to Alberta in the fall, when I commented that I was hoping to get a good photo of a magpie since I think they are really pretty, my sister said they were viewed as horrible nuisances by almost everyone. They are raucous birds and can be bullies, and they get into trash so they are pests, but I still think they are pretty! Another pest bird is the crow, and few would consider their calls very musical or much like "birdsong". But when I hear that caw, it takes me back to all the family camping trips of my childhood. There were always crows around, and the sound of their calls is only a happy association for me. Isn't that interesting, the different perceptions people have of birds and bird calls?

Consider the ravens: They don't sow or reap; they don't have a storeroom or a barn; yet God feeds them. Aren't you worth much more than the birds?

~Luke 12:24~

Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,

lightning and hail, snow and clouds, sotrmy winds that do his bidding,

you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars,

wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds,

kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth,

young men and women, old men and children.

Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted;

his splendor is above the earth and the heavens.

~Psalm 148:7-13~

I suppose I could add a lot more about other animals and especially about pets, but I will leave it at this, because it's something I found to be very true just recently.

One small cat changes coming home to an empty house to coming home. ~Pam Brown

And you know I have to add a humorous quote at the end!

Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read. ~Groucho Marx

Wednesday Quotes 2024 is hosted by Marsha at Always Write. This post will be linked at #WQ #163: Nature/Animals

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