| ||||||||||
Dr. Ronald P. Rogers CHIROPRACTOR Support for your body's natural healing capabilities 270-384-5554 Click here for details Columbia Gas Dept. GAS LEAK or GAS SMELL Contact Numbers 24 hrs/ 365 days 270-384-2006 or 9-1-1 Call before you dig Visit ColumbiaMagazine's Directory of Churches Addresses, times, phone numbers and more for churches in Adair County Find Great Stuff in ColumbiaMagazine's Classified Ads Antiques, Help Wanted, Autos, Real Estate, Legal Notices, More... |
The Whitehurst Diaries: Tree Swallows Click on headline for complete diary entry with photo(s) By Sharon Whitehurst Diary entry, June 7, 2012 Our early weeks on the small Gradyville farm [2010] were filled with discovery, a time of experiencing spring in a setting new to us. The kitchen window and the sliding door in the tiny dining area look onto the back dooryard, past the weathered trunks of box elder and silver maple and on to a pair of twisted crab apples trees. In one hangs a vintage bluebird house installed by Haskell Rogers. The shingle on the roof is curled and the perch is missing, but the amount of activity around it suggests a history of satisfied tenants. Noting what appeared to be a waiting list for avian domiciles Jim brought an old board down from the tobacco barn and fashioned it into two more bird houses. In this the third summer of our residency, we've noted that while bluebirds swirl about the two backyard houses, the house located in the goat willow on the edge of the front lawn has been consistently occupied by tree swallows. I watch them in the mornings as they dart and dive through the shimmer of early sunshine, sailing through the clouds of small insects which hover just beyond the porch. This evening I noticed one bird sitting rather stolidly in the circle of the birdhouse entrance. She [or he?] seemed oblivious to the other birds who swooped about the branches of the willow or teetered on the nearby power line. I approached quietly with my camera and was able to snap a few photos before Willis the Cat bounded in to help. The birdhouse is protected by a barricade of fencing wire, but Willis had to exercise his privilege of looming over it from an upper branch--just because he could. I prodded Willis with a twig until he jumped lightly down and strolled off to recline on his favorite humped grey rock--his back to the birdhouse where the swallow again perched, tranquil in the enfolding twilight. - Sharon Whitehurst This story was posted on 2012-06-10 06:45:34
Printable: this page is now automatically formatted for printing.
Have comments or corrections for this story? Use our contact form and let us know.
More articles from topic Sharon Whitehurst - Whitehurst Diaries:
The Whitehurst Diaries: Tea With the Bluebirds Sharon Whitehurst suggests teensy blue flower is species of flax The Whitehurst Diaries: We are Daughters of Eve The Whitehurst Diaries: Walking with Willis Sharon Whitehurst: Flower is common fleabane The Whitehurst Diaries: Nesting Woodcock The Whitehurst Diaries: Old Timey Pear blooms early The Whitehurst Diaries: Spring brings new promise The Whitehurst Diaries: Winter Solstice Sharon Whitehurst renders wonderful read-aloud poetic prose View even more articles in topic Sharon Whitehurst - Whitehurst Diaries |
|
||||||||
| ||||||||||
Quick Links to Popular Features
Looking for a story or picture? Try our Photo Archive or our Stories Archive for all the information that's appeared on ColumbiaMagazine.com. | ||||||||||
Contact us: Columbia Magazine and columbiamagazine.com are published by Linda Waggener and Pen Waggener, PO Box 906, Columbia, KY 42728. Please use our contact page, or send questions about technical issues with this site to webmaster@columbiamagazine.com. All logos and trademarks used on this site are property of their respective owners. All comments remain the property and responsibility of their posters, all articles and photos remain the property of their creators, and all the rest is copyright 1995-Present by Columbia Magazine. Privacy policy: use of this site requires no sharing of information. Voluntarily shared information may be published and made available to the public on this site and/or stored electronically. Anonymous submissions will be subject to additional verification. Cookies are not required to use our site. However, if you have cookies enabled in your web browser, some of our advertisers may use cookies for interest-based advertising across multiple domains. For more information about third-party advertising, visit the NAI web privacy site.
|