Tom Hoffman, proprietor of Heritage Oak Winery in Lodi, CA, has helped the blue bird population there recover and thrive by putting blue bird boxes up all over his property. The European starlings that were brought over as song birds in the 1800s quickly spread across the continent, displacing many of our smaller native birds from their natural nesting areas. The starling cannot get through the hole in the blue bird box to make it's nest there, although, other bird species such as the house sparrow and the tree swallow, and even an acorn woodpecker, can.
So this poem, with the accompanying pictures, is a tribute to Tom and all the other folks across our lands who work to preserve the native habitats and species for now and into the future.
Blue Birds In Bloom
They fly back from their winter vacation,
rested and looking for a new home
She's the picky one, dragging him from
bird box to bird box, until she finds just
the right one
You can almost here the conversation
Him: But, honey, what's wrong with this one?
Her: It's too close to those house sparrows
Finally, they settle in, building their neat little nest
from twigs and such, all uniform size
not like those messy tree swallows
They lay their eggs, all pretty blue ones, and
share the duties of raising the young
By fall they have left once more for their
winter vacation home
Next spring, they'll do this all again!
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