The Star Beacon: Earth Star's monthly paranormal newsletter. Subscription info can be found by clicking here. BOOKS, T-SHIRTS, TAPES -- NEW! Earth Star's Store features metaphysical, self-help, children's literature and adult fiction, plus original T-shirts and conference lecture tapes. Visit now by clicking here. PSYCHIC READERS The NEW Psychic Readers Directory lists Intuitive Counselors from all over. Check out who's doing what, and how to contact them, by clicking here. THE BEST OF THE BEACON Selected articles which have appeared over the years in The Star Beacon Click here. CONFERENCES Earth Star's annual Love and Light Conference. Also check out other conferences by clicking here. FRIENDSHIP CLUB Earth Star's Galaxy Wide Friendship Club is the place to find like-minded pen pals. Visit now by clicking here. ART GALLERY Earth Star's NEW Art Gallery features paintings by Ryan Ulrich plus an assortment of art (including extraterrestrial). Visit now by clicking here. ARIZONA PAGE Visit exotic and beautiful Why, Arizona. You can go there by clicking here. MULES Animal lovers will get a "kick" out of our Mule Page, featuring the Stucker Mesa Mules. Click here.

WHO IS EARTH STAR?

Find out who we are and what we do by clicking here. To contact us, e-mail earthstar@tripod.net.

PUBLISHING

Earth Star Publications offers book packaging services for self-publishing authors, as well as a lot more. Please see our List of Services.

Advertise your wares or services here by placing an ad in The Star Beacon. To view CLASSIFIED ADS click here. For more information on advertising, e-mail us at UFOeditor@yahoo.com. For information regarding the Psychic Readers and Healers Directory, please e-mail earthstar@tripod.net.

from the April 2006 Star Beacon

The Bird Tribes

          One of the most delightful aspects about this time of year is the return of our feathered population. Birds provide us with more than just the delight of seeing them and their various colors and shapes, and more than their diverse range of song. They give us a focus on our relationship to the world outside our immediate selves and everyday routine.
          Thirty-one years ago, when I took Ornithology 461 at Michigan State University, I began to look at the world through new eyes. I had always enjoyed the songbirds that frequented our woodsy backyard in the suburbs in southcentral Wisconsin while growing up. Being musically inclined, I was drawn to the different songs of the cardinal, the rapid flutey aria of the house wren, the “cheerio” melody of the robin, and the sorrowful call of the mourning dove.
          When I began the morning field trips that spring at Michigan State, I found it easy to learn the new birds and grew excited at spotting them and recording them in a log. It opened up a whole new world for me.
          I look back on that year in my life as a time in which I experienced a surge of awareness that led me to where I am today. My interest in birds became a turning point in my spiritual life, not only bringing me closer to Nature, but touching something deep within my soul that had lain dormant.
          We moved out West in 1978, and I left behind the abundance of familiar songbirds I had known in the East. In the West there were new species to learn. Soon enough, my interests moved from the avian world to the esoteric world as I began to explore the metaphysical, and my fascination for birds evolved into a fascination for UFOs.
          I am still pretty much a bird nut. This year the birds are coming to our mesa in surprising numbers and diversity. Suddenly we are blessed with a splendid array of our feathered friends visiting the feeders in front of our house, and in May I’ll put up two hummingbird feeders on the side of the house. The fascinating tiny hummers come and go throughout the day, buzzing and swooping and driving each other away in their competition for feeding space.
          They don’t appear to be intimated by the presence of humans, so it can be a little alarming to be a near-miss of one of these dive-bombers. Sitting on the porch during the before-dusk “feeding frenzy” means a risk of being stabbed by one of those beak-missiles in flight. But the tiny birds are adept at staying on course, even in pursuit at 60 mph. The black-chinned and broad-tailed varieties of hummingbird will be here soon. In July, the rufous hummingbird will arrive, and then there will be competition big time. Rufous stays around only a short time before moving on, but he sure can get possessive of the feeders.
          All winter we enjoyed the juncos (gray-headed and Oregon varieties), house finches, chickadees, Steller and scrub jays, and a few rufous-sided towhees. Our summer friends include a family of colorful Lazuli buntings, chipping sparrows, brown-headed cowbirds, black-headed grosbeaks, the Bullock’s oriole, tree swallows, mourning doves, an occasional Rocky Mountain bluebird, goldfinch and of course robins.
The mesmerizing lazy song of the Western meadowlark is a continuous delight as is the distant call of the rock wren and sometimes at night the calls of the great-horned owls. At dusk the goatsucker nighthawks call out “Beeert” as they buzz through the air after flying insects.
          We have red-shafted flickers, downy woodpeckers, red-tailed hawks, kestrels, ravens, crows and killdeer, not to mention the constant year-round presence of magpies. They nest in the swamp and make a loud ruckus at times. But they keep the yard clean (dog messes included) and sometimes, unfortunately, they rob eggs from the hen house.
          Often we see golden eagles soaring above, and down by the river. during winter months. you can see bald eagles. I once watched a hawk swoop down and grab one of my young Aracauna pullets. I would never think of avenging such an act. Even though I don’t want to see my chickens wiped out by predatory birds, I understand and accept the cycle of Nature. Even the magpies have to be forgiven now and then for their egg pilfering.
          Watching the birds out our large living room windows during mealtime is one of the pleasures of living here on the mesa. Witnessing the cycle of life that goes on, even when we wonder about the outcome of a changing human world, brings comfort and a sense of connection to All That Is.
          The birds know no borders, they don’t care about what is going on in the political world. To them it makes no difference whose insanity is running the country they live in... they just know how to Be. Sometimes they get along with one another, and sometimes they don’t. And they are much more entertaining to watch than a noisy box plugged into a satellite or cable that never ceases attempting to influence your way of thinking.
          In the world of today we need to find comfort and peace in any way we can, to keep from drowning in despair. I turn to the outdoors when the human world gets to be too much. There’s no better therapy than working in the yard or garden and listening to a new warbler that has moved into the area. There’s nothing more exhilarating to me than waking up to a new morning and the air is filled with song in celebration of life itself.

          Ann Ulrich Miller is publisher of The Star Beacon.

Copyright © 2006 Words and Art by Ann Ulrich Miller