SPARROWS HAD THEIR EYES ON ME
By Gail Parker

Katie, my Irish setter, and I have made friends with a small flock of sparrows and one grackle who tags along with the others.  Every so often, on our walk around the neighborhood, I crush a peanut with my shoe for the sparrows and grackle.  People get a real kick out of seeing us walk by with this parade of birds in tow.

The sparrows usually walk or fly very low and even cross the streets with us.  If I ignore them for too long, one or two will fly by my head and gently brush my hair with his feather or fly right up in front of my face to remind me they are there.

One morning, Katie and I happened to walk too close to a mockingbird's nest.  Both parents were sitting on the overhead wire. They swooped down to attack us as we passed.  But as soon as the littler birds saw what the bigger ones were doing, our sparrow friends flew in between and blocked the mockingbirds, keeping them from going after us.

After the initial attack the mockingbirds never bothered us again although they would watch us from the wires whenever we walked by that spot.  To make peace, I would drop a couple peanuts for them. I understood that they wanted to protect their young.  The sparrows just needed to let them know that we are their friends too.

I thought it was amazing that those little sparrows would be so loyal to us.  It has been almost three years now, and the mockingbirds have never bothered us again.

BIO:

Gail, Carl, and the Parker gang (Katie, Rocky, Princess, Magic, and Misty) live in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Visit http://hometown.aol.com/rebelslair/myhomepage/photo.html to see "In Memory of Renegade My Heart Dog Katie (Rebels Lair Kateri)."  Gail's mottos are, "Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints, kill nothing but time," and "Rescue: it's your responsibility!"

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT:

The Bible says that God has his eye on the sparrow.  Are there sparrows and other creatures who have their eyes on you and bring gifts when you need them?