Birds of Oklahoma Winter

 

Oklahoma with its mild winter is host to many birds. The meadowlark and the cardinals keep busy and wait out spring along with nuthatches and the tiny tufted titmouse. The meadowlark with its yellow chest and belly and its stripes and choir scarf of jet black is my favorite of all the birds.

The winters are not hard or long here on the Oklahoma plains. With the brownheaded cowbirds and the redwinged blackbirds, the blue jay, a multitude of sparrows, doves, and the indomitable crow we wait together. We hope for a bit of snow and sometimes have ice instead which wreaks havoc on the trees and power lines. The birds don’t mind as long as I fill the feeders!

Here’s my spring poem about the meadowlark. I hope you enjoy it!

Meadowlark

By Elece Hollis

Dandelions in the grass

Smiling sweetly as I pass

Nodding heads of yellow fluff

You tell me I don’t smile enough?

 

Meadowlark perched on the fence

Would you sing for fifty cents?

“I only sing for free,” said he,

“For life is sweet and good to me.”

 

Iris fronds like swords of green

Purple blossoms in between,

You say I’m walking much too fast?

How many wonders I walk past!

 

Oak tree towering overhead

Rooted in a lily bed

My vision is too small you think?

I do not know how deep roots sink?

 

Snow white clouds up in the blue

You tell me what I fear is true.

I hurry, scurry, stop too rarely

Only know my world too sparely!

 

Remind me to come out of self

To take my soul down from the shelf,

To find the Lark’s own cause to sing.

Yes, life is good and sweet in spring.

 

 

Elece Hollis is a mother to seven and grandmother to 24. She lives in Oklahoma where she is retired from homeschooling  and writes full time. Elece likes to paint, write poetry, and is a photographer who enjoys shooting nature, especially flowers. She helps her husband on their 80 acre farm where they grow pecans and raise beef cattle. She is currently working on a book of prayers and a book of poetry.

 

Life with Mama (http://bit.ly/2LIFEMAMA)

What’s Good About Home (http://bit.ly/2MYHOME)

Heart of Spring (http://bit.ly/TeachSprg1)