A Good Sign

Yesterday and today I've heard the chirps of a tiny bird seemingly in the shrubbery along the walk down towards the first floor door at the office.  It seemed like that of a small warbler or other little songbird, and I looked for it in the shrubs and the low trees around the outside dining area, but could not locate the source.

Today at lunch I carried out a box of assorted personal things from my office to put in the car.  As I reached the top of the walk from the first floor to the parking lot, I heard the tiny chirping, and louder near its source.  And then I saw several small birds, one rather ragged one clinging to the front of a car parked at the foremost parking spot. Two others hopped nearby on the ground, then flew quickly to the small shrubs lining the walk.  The scruffy-looking one chirped a nagging chorus at the other two, then finally seemed to gather its strength and launch itself after them onto the ground nearby, dancing excitedly across the ground then the short-mowed lawn, pecking at somethings about its feet and chirping in excitement the while.

The two more smoothed-feathered and slightly larger birds had hopped, with their chirps, across the grass and into the small shrubs, chirping loudly as they went.

I paused with a smile and watched the summary of the scene:  the slightly larger (but rather slimmer than the other unruly chirper) pair exchanged comments between themselves, while the scruffy and louder chirper exclaimed loudly at everything before its eyes, then with an excited hop pounced and pecked upon it.

And the summary of the moment: The two slimmer birds are Western Bluebirds, somewhat less ornamented than their eastern cousins, harder to distinguish from all the other small songbirds we have out here.  All our birds bear their colors within subdued coats of dust or dun-colored overcoats.  The louder and more neatly arranged bird is the fledgling, gangling, awkward, and extremely reluckant to try feeding itself yet demanding that someone owes it a feeding.

The omen for me?  the little one is a fledgling, today upon its first flights from the nest.  It explodes with energy today upon the walkway and into the lawn, poking and pecking and chirping in delight at the bugs it fnds and consumes.  Its foray into the open shows me it is a western Bluebird - much less colorful than the Eastern cousins but just as opinionated about its diet, to judge from its vocabulary.  It has happily fledged and now joyfully launches itself into this new game of food-gathering, now on its own (with some unobserved oversite from Mum and Dad) to get as much out of life as it possibly can.

A good omen indeed.