Tag Archives: birding

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The garden birds are busy preparing at this important time of year, and the birds of prey are going through the same motions and stresses also. The Eurasian Sparrowhawk may be one of the smallest birds of prey, but it is mighty in its own way. After a decline in numbers several decades ago, they are now quite abundant around the UK.

From March through to June, you can witness their stunning aerial “skydancing” displays, part of their dramatic mating ritual. The female takes charge of nurturing the eggs once laid, while the male goes on the hunt, using that remarkable stealth to provide the extra food needed. One swoop with a sudden shower of feathers often signals a sparrowhawk nearby.

Interestingly, the females are quite a bit larger than the males, which is unusual. Symbolically, they represent extreme focus and awareness, reminding us to pay attention. They are also linked to new beginnings and, in some traditions, are thought to be spiritual messengers.

We were fortunate to have one of our own spiritual messengers last night, as our dear friend Lesley Knight came to visit. What a beautiful evening it was. Lesley shared beautiful thoughts and gave wonderful evidence of continuing life, along with such lovely messages. Thank you so much.

Our own Sarah Dorgan chaired our gathering beautifully, and we are grateful to our family for the beautiful prayers and readings.  Thank you to Julie for the music, Sue for her hospitality, and to Carole for another divine cake creation.

Thank you to our healers, always ready to help afterwards, and to all the wonderful healing trainees. And thank you to everyone who helped set up, break down down, and take care of the washing up.

Prayer of the Week
Please, let us pray for peace everywhere. May leaders find peace within themselves and become more aware of the consequences of their actions.

Calendar to follow.
Have a beautiful week!

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Even through some foggy mornings and days, springtime is coming, as noted by the endless birdsong and activity, and the now luminous green appearing in our woodland. Even the moss gives a fantasy look to the forest, with its lime-green, almost luminescent colour.

The humble but very territorial blackbird is out and about with all the other busy birds, cocking his head to hear the earthworms underfoot. The male is black with that bright orange beak, and the female has a soft brown plumage.

They are a protected bird, and also one of our most common birds, so common that perhaps they get overlooked in favour of the more striking colours of some of their kin. His song is beautiful, though, as noted in many poems and songs. Numbers swell in the wintertime as their Scandinavian and Baltic cousins join them in this slightly warmer climate. These pairs often stay together for life. The female lays about three to six beautiful turquoise eggs with rusty spots. They used to be named “ousel,” as noted in the works of Shakespeare, but in 1486 they were renamed simply blackbirds. Folklore in general has them as harbingers of change, and Celtic symbolism holds that their song thins the veil between this world and the next.

We welcomed the lovely Sarah McLaughlan last night to our little church with a big heart. Sarah brought many inspired thoughts to remind us and uplift us, and then shared many lovely and very helpful messages for the family. Thank you so much, Sarah. We really did have such a lovely evening. Alison Keogh chaired our gathering. Thank you.

As always, we thank our readers and prayer people. We thank hospitality and Carole’s cake making. We thank Lisa for running our music, and also our healers who were on hand afterwards. Thank you to everyone who pitches in with the set-up, break-down, and the washing up.

PRAYER OF THE WEEK

Please pray this week for more understanding in this world, understanding in our homes, in our communities, and on the global stage. Understanding brings compassion, and compassion heals situations. The Golden Rule stands in every age.

Calendar up tomorrow.

Have a lovely week. Find the beauty in every day.

Photo credit: Mireille Berthoud

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Walking through the woodlands this morning, I must admit there wasn’t too much inspiration in a visual sense. No wonder this month inspired the song lyrics ‘January sick and tired you’ve been hanging on me’, and yet my ears had a feast of bird song and then the unmistakable loud drumming of a woodpecker, most probably The Greater Spotted Woodpecker.

None of the birds have a chance to moan about this month, for they are preparing. Finding their mate is of the utmost importance, and the woodpeckers are no different. The drumming is to establish their breeding territories. The Greater Spotted Woodpecker is small with a black and white plumage and a dash of red at the back of the head for the males.

As food is scarce, you may get a treat and see them in your garden. Along with the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and the Green Woodpecker, they are fully fledged native residents in the UK. A woodpecker’s Spiritual symbolism is that of persistence, divine timing, and communication, encouraging us to dig deeper to find inner wisdom. A good example for us as we move through the start of this year.

And what a start to the year we have had. Last night in Chawton, we had another of our own taking the podium, as in the lovely Sarah Dorgan, who shared such meaningful, inspired thoughts, and then went on to bring so many messages. Well done, Sarah. We had a lovely night!! Chris Elliot was our chair, making a great team to lead us through the evening.

We thank the readers also for raising the energy. We thank Lisa for running our music. Carole and Sue, we thank you for the hospitality and cake!! Thank you to our healers who were quite busy last night! And of course, busy hands setting up, breaking down, and washing up. Thank you!

Prayer of the week.

Please pray for the bereaved. Some suffer a very sudden loss, and some experience the loss of a child, which can be especially difficult. Please pray that they can all be lifted into understanding and Peace which can change everything.

Calendar up later.

Remember, the endless rain will give us such a lush springtime.

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With the UK annual birdwatch coming up this week between the 24th and 26th January, I was thinking about the humble House Sparrow that I do not see much in my garden. There was quite a decline in them but apparently they are making a comeback. They are inquisitive little ones with the males much more striking in appearance than the duller looking females. They like being close to human habitat and hopefully most folk are seeing them increase in numbers in their gardens and their local parks.

Loss of habitat, nesting areas and enjoyed food source drove their numbers down, as with most birds, hence the annual birdwatch this time every year to help understand which species needs a little extra help, as we all do when those chips are down.

But things were very good in Chawton last night. We had a lovely evening as Russell Haworth came to visit. He is a newer medium to us and we had a lovely time, as he spoke on kindness and actually gave us a task to go away with, and then brought some lovely messages for us!! Thank you so much Russell! We will look forward to seeing you later in the year. Thank you to Nerina who chaired the evening so graciously also.

We enjoyed lovely readings and prayers from the family, Julie on music. Carole and a smorgasbord of baked goods!! We are so spoilt! Sue with our hospitality, healers on hand afterwards and all the set up and breakdown making it light quick work!!

Prayer of the week

Please pray for the ceasefire in the Middle East. We pray it will hold and that all the hostages will be returned, and families can celebrate or at the very least gain a closure after more than a year of uncertainty and heartbreak. Also that those in Gaza can receive supplies and have Peace whilst they deal with the devastation of their homeland.

Calendar up next.

Wrap up out there. It is still pretty cold!!

The RSPB

https://www.rspb.org.uk › RSPB › Birdwatch-25