Tag: Nature

Birds

~ Mel Eyeons ~ Leave a comment

A ‘Thought for the Day’ for Black Cat Radio, February 2022

Did you take part in the Big Garden Birdwatch last weekend? I wasn’t able to, but I often have in earlier years. The idea is to count birds in your garden or a park so that we can get a picture of how birds are doing. Shockingly, we’ve lost 38 million birds from UK skies in the last 50 years, so it really is vital we do all we can to look after our birdlife.

I’m not at all an expert on birds but I do enjoy seeing them. I have bird feeders and a bird bath in the garden, and it’s really increased the numbers we get. It’s mostly sparrows and starlings, but also some blackbirds and the occasional robin or blue tit. It hasn’t taken much to get more birds into the garden, and they really brighten the place up. They also got me laughing when I saw a small starling squeeze itself with great difficulty in and out of a guard that was supposed to only allow entry to sparrows.

The natural world needs our help these days, with the problems of climate change and the loss of places for wildlife to live. This is important to many Christians because we believe that God made this world and loves it and has put human beings in charge of taking care of it. In fact, there’s a scheme to encourage churches to become more environmentally friendly, and lots of churches have taken it up. Churches are moving to environmentally friendly electricity, reducing water usage, putting up bird boxes and creating wild areas in churchyards.

All of us can help to look after the world we’ve been given and try to pass it on to future generations in a good condition. There’s a lot of natural beauty all around, and it would be really sad to lose it. Nature is also good for our mental health and that’s more important than ever these days.

I know it’s a bit late for new year’s resolutions, but there’s no law against February resolutions, so can I suggest seeing if we might all be able to make some change to help wildlife? Even just a saucer of water might make all the difference and help us fulfil our role as carers of the natural world.

Take care
Mel

Blackbirds

~ Mel Eyeons ~ Leave a comment

A thought for the day for Black Cat Radio in April 2020

Did you know that in this year’s Big Garden Birdwatch the blackbird came in as the 5th most common bird in our gardens? Number 1 was the house sparrow.

I have a pair of blackbirds in my garden. They’ve been busy recently, building a nest. I’ve been looking out of the window and seeing them picking up bits of twig and flying back with beaks full of nest-building materials. They also spend quite a bit of time hopping around the lawn and pulling up worms. Apparently, blackbirds have such good hearing that they can hear the worms moving underground. They can also spot the ends of worms sticking up through the ground, so I guess they have good eyesight as well.

It’s a nice thing to see the birds busy getting on with things because it reminds me that coronavirus is not the only thing going on in the world. While we humans are keeping indoors or working bravely on the frontline, the rest of nature is quietly getting on with things like it always has.

The sun still rises and sets, flowers still grow and bloom, and creatures still make homes and raise young. We might feel like everything has changed but a look out of the window or keeping our eyes open on a socially distanced walk reassures us that some things are continuing unchanged. This can help us keep a sense of perspective on those days when everything seems dark and difficult.

I think we can apply this to our own lives too. Yes, much is very different from normal but there will be things for all of us that are still the same, which we can hold onto for a sense of normality and a break from the feeling of being all at sea. And my hope and prayer for you all is that you will find those things and be able to hold onto them.