Inca Doves Warming Up

One reader took me to task for neglecting the garden articles I used to publish. That reminds me of a similar complaint, "You have been averaging only two posts a day."

Yesterday we received our allotment of the winter storm. I happened to be north, trying not to slide off I-17 as the freezing rain fell. The weather turned cold overnight in Glendale. This morning it was only 40 degrees, normally as cold as it gets in the Phoenix area.

I looked outside this morning and saw dozens Inca doves clustered on the fence, around the flower pot, on the window sill, and on the chlorine buckets. Some were stacked double-decker, to stay warm. They were catching the morning sun several hours ago and are still sitting there, preening their feathers.

Feathers perplex the scientists of evolution. Not every bird can fly, but all birds have feathers, in several categories, for flight, warmth, attraction. The Inca doves fluffed up their downy feather to keep their bodies warm this morning. Inside we had several down blankets we use on the bed. Birds preen because the feathers have to be aligned just so for them to fly.

One feather alone has about 300 million barbs on it. The barbs keep the feathers in place. They work a bit like Velcro.

I put a number of plants, bushes, and trees in the yard to shade us from the burning heat, but also to attract birds. Few people seem to appreciate birds here, or I am speaking to the wrong people.

Every plant hosts a wide variety of insect life. Humming birds are common here, but always a treat to watch. They love the cape honeysuckle bushes, which are almost always in bloom with bright orange flowers. Humming birds do not simply sip nectar. That would be like living on Kool-aid. They also eat insects. Trees, bushes, and flowers are food centers for insects, so they help birds with food and shelter alike.

Recently I was picking tangelos from my tree when I heard a sound like a Star Wars light saber. A few feet away a humming bird floated and watched. They are fearless but also known for flattering bird-lovers. I have had them fly in and out of the shower from the garden hose, getting a bath on the fly.

Birds are happy to get water in shallow puddles, for drinking and bathing. I turn my waterfall on to give them a safe area to land, bathe, and get a drink.

I do not know how someone can look at all the dependencies within one group of creatures and say they evolved by chance or figured out how to survive. People are now so blind to Creation that they cannot see how our civil liberties and ethical concepts are tied to the Author of Life.