Orioles

At our Columbia Gorge campsite, we awoke astonished.

After three nights of wild, tree-shredding winds, the nest still dangled like a pear from pliable aspen branches.

Hardly seems possible that it survived.

But there they were, both parents feeding nestlings in that snug, intact little pouch.

Bullock’s orioles, canopy gleaners of insects and fruit.

The mister, a flame.

The missus, her beak toward heaven. A singing flower.

Then, a preen and sunbath.

Under that stripe in her feathers, her brood patch.

Brood patch: the belly skin that warmed her clutch (anywhere from three to seven eggs) for eleven days or so.

As few as eleven days from yolks to nestlings.

Prompts us to “think on these things.”

—Philippians 4:8

“The rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.” —Matthew 7:25

Thanks for stopping by, friends. So glad you’re here.

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Watching Nature, Seeing Life: Through His Creation, God Speaks.

P. S. An international bestseller, my award-winning novel Sugar Birds has been acquired by Tyndale House. Now at the printer, the book re-releases this fall. Included in this new edition are the opening pages of its sequel Chalk Horse, which will launch in May 2024.

Preorder Sugar Birds HERE.