Featured photo: This handsome fellow, the red headed woodpecker, is a daily visitor to the backyard feeder. (Courtesy Photo)
When I was growing up long before cell phones came and stole away our solitude, sitting on the porch, especially in late afternoon, was something I came to expect. I can still see my dad in our old rocking chair; mama in the swing, us kids sitting on the steps enjoying being there as a day came to a close.
Instead of staring at the screen in our hands, lightning bugs were our entertainment. We had a jar mom kept on the porch for my brother, sister and me to see how many lightning bugs we could catch to put in the jar. This was our glowing, flickering entertainment until mom said it was time to unscrew the lid and let the little bugs fly and flash freely.
Where have those special times gone? We’re inside watching the mostly depressing daily news or Seinfeld or re-runs of Andy Griffith instead of sitting outside.
Over the past few weeks, my wife and I have decided to relive the old porch sitting tradition. Our back porch is perfectly suited for sitting. My lounge chair and foot stool and Kay’s rocker seem to be especially comfortable to sit and relax during the last hour of the day.
Our back yard is surrounded by trees, both tall pines and a thicket of smaller saplings that are attractive to the birds that call our home place their home. I suspect many of them spend their nights roosting in the thicket. A bird feeder sitting just off the porch we keep filled with bird seed is the focal point for birds that like to grab a snack before heading to the thicket to bed down for the night.
Keeping up with the variety of birds that visit the feeder is an enjoyable exercise all its own. The most prevalent species that sometimes fuss over space on the feeder are cardinals, blue jays, tufted titmice, Carolina wrens, mourning doves, dredbellied woodpeckers and chickadees with occasional visits from nuthatches and chipping sparrows.
We have had a pair this summer we haven’t seen before. Red headed woodpeckers, all decked out with brilliant red heads, black back and white wing patches are just flat outbeautiful birds and we can expect to see the pair every afternoon. Woodpeckers are more designed to scoot up tree trunks than try to hang on the side of our feeder to feed but somehow they manage to get it done.
Just before the sun slides behind the brush to bid the day adieu, we’ll watch as lightning bugs turn on their tail lights, and hear the rapid staccato call of our pileated woodpecker. Then there is the recognized call of the yellow billed cuckoo, or one most folks know as the rain crow.
There is another bird that we never see that tunes up its vocal chords to produce some of the sweetest music this side of Heaven. As sunlight fades, the twilight song of the wood thrush from somewhere back behind the yard has to be heard to be appreciated.
Back porch sitting; when is the last time you enjoyed the quiet and relaxing chance to just sit outside to watch and listen as daylight fades? You don’t have to live in the country like we do to enjoy these special moments of quiet solitude but admittedly, rural settings are best suited.
If you live in town, go ahead and put up a bird feeder. It might surprise you to see how many different species of birds live in town and you might find porch sitting at day’s end to be more rewarding than sitting in front of the news on television to end up being depressed.