A Gathering

I have been mourning the loss of my turtle friend and find myself frequently gazing out my bedroom window, still searching for him in his pond. I noticed that there seems to be more birds congregating in this area. Perhaps they, too, miss my turtle friend!

Early this morning, I heard a ruckus as I was getting out of the shower so I crept to the picture window to look outside, careful not to disturb any of the creatures with quick, sudden movements. A flock of birds had landed and they were taking turns bathing in the pond. Many of the birds stood in the tiered sections of the pond, dipping their heads into the water and shaking their feathers. These were medium-sized birds with red breasts like the robins in Colorado, but they have white lines around their eyes.

As I watched from the window I noticed more birds joining the flock. There was a yellow breasted bird with gray top feathers and a handful of tiny gray birds I had noticed in the backyard earlier. There was even two female cardinals. I sat on the bed and counted my visitors. At one point, there was at least fifty birds bathing in the pond, sitting on the rocks or watching from the pecan tree that stretches its branches over the water. I have never seen so many birds in this pond before. I hope they make the pond their regular morning stop because it was wonderful to watch.