LifeScapes 3. Writing about the places we live

Life on the Flyway

Photo: Susan Albert

Sometimes I need only to stand wherever I am to be blessed.― Mary Oliver

We live on the Central Flyway, a bird and insect migration route from the northern Great Plains in Canada to the Gulf and central Mexico. Here in the Texas Hill Country, the flyway brings birds and butterflies to their breeding grounds in the spring; in the fall, it is a path to their winter retreat. Push and pull, life on the move. Life in flocks, following its instincts.

Sometimes, our migrating friends are surprisingly punctual. Northbound hummingbirds arrive at Meadow Knoll around the Ides of March. One year, I hadn't yet taken down the winter suet feeder hangs from the same hook that in summer holds a hummingbird feeder. On March 16, I looked out the window to see a ruby-throat impatiently buzzing the suet feeder, looking for his hummingbird hooch.

In mid-April, our most colorful migrants, the painted buntings, are here to nest and breed, delighting us every day with their vivid, crayon-brig…