The Nuthatch sees what other birds miss
You simply cannot live along the shores of Lake Huron in Bruce County and not be a bird watcher to some degree. There is such a wide variety of little winged friends -- and some not so little too, for that matter (i.e. Blue Herons and Swans that inhabit Fairy Lake, just below our property).
I was amazed to learn from a recent Natural Heritage Environmental Impact Study of the Lake Range property we used to co-own on Miramichi Bay, that 19 individual species of birds had been observed as being common and demonstrably secure in the habitat. I remain particularly fascinated by the white and red-breasted Nuthatch which I came to label "the upside down bird" because instead of climbing up the trunk of a tree like other birds, it can climb either up or down. When it climbs down a tree trunk it goes head first. A Nuthatch can also move about on the underside of a branch rather than walk on the top like other birds.
Because this busy little "upside down" bird moves around on a tree in this unusual manner looking for insects, nuts and seeds, they find food that other birds miss. I can't help but think that there is a lesson to be learned here because sometimes things in our world seem to be upside down. We see sadness, hurt, weakness, hunger, catastrophic occurrences and we question the fairness of it all. Sometimes we see clearly, but at other times only dimly. When our vision is blurred and we are overwhelmed with negativity we need to become like the Nuthatch, backing up to find what others (or ourselves) have missed. When we experience difficulties or doom and gloom, we can reverse our thinking just a bit to see the blessings we otherwise would have overlooked. Kind of like finding the "silver lining behind a cloud".
That's the way I see it anyway.
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