The great outdoors…

It’s all about where you look to find it.

So many of us are cooped up by the Coronavirus restrictions. Even as we see areas open up, some of us are in risk categories, some of us care for people who are in risk categories, and so it’s not for all of us to just throw caution to the wind and resume life as normal. Nature, thankfully, knows no such bounds. In the spirit of life being what you make of it, I offer this. Wherever you are, look around. Nature grows in every little crack and crevice, every nook and cranny. Stuff you find alongside the trail is always fun to see and find, but you don’t need a trail to make those discoveries.

In my own backyard, I keep bird feeders, and I actively court various species. My current obsession is orioles, because goldfinches, house martins, bluebirds, woodpeckers, and other visually attractive species are already regulars. So imagine my delight when I saw a male show up a couple weeks ago. Multiply that by about ten million when I saw this today:

Female-Oriole-20200519
Female Baltimore Oriole

I’m jazzed to finally see the missus. I’m hopeful this means that two of them have shacked up nearby, and I’ll be seeing more of their stunning plumage (and that of their brood!) in the coming months. I have no proof, but this guy might be her lucky suitor:

Male Baltimore Oriole perched on an orange slice.
Male Baltimore Oriole

Life doesn’t always go your way, of course. We all know that when life hands you lemons, you make… goldfinches?

Goldfinch-20200519
Male Goldfinch

(Let me just say, I was beside myself when I saw that photo come out of my camera.)

Anyway, hopefully the sequestration isn’t getting any of you down. Stay hopeful, stay observant, take joy in the little things in life that make the world go ’round.

And as always, stay safe out there.

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Find me in the mountains, on this blog, or on Twitter: @Protean_Hiker

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