How we Created a Sanctuary for Birds on the Desteni Farm
- Maite Zamora Moreno
- Oct 10, 2017
- 3 min read
I finally caught her on camera!!
Every morning this early bird wakes me up by flying into our room and feasting on the spoils of the night. We leave the standing lamp on during the night so that I can easily check on Syntia (I often wake up for just a few seconds, look at her to see if she is okay and then go back to sleep). Ever since it got warmer, we’ve been having more bugs fly into our house and that of course includes moths of all shapes, colors and sizes. Unfortunately, with being attracted to light, several of them plunge to their deaths in the standing lamp during the night. The bird got wind of this and started coming to our room every morning to feed herself and, probably, her little ones. The Top House on the Desteni Farm has come to be known by the birds in our environment as a safe place for them. We have always kept cats out of our garden to protect the parrots that live here, but there’s more. Lj and I have stood as the ones to take care of the poultry on the farm, and Leila and Gian have stood as the ones to take care of wild birds that got injured or fell out of their nest. Numerous times we’ve taken in wild birds, chickens, ducks, geese, etc. – creating a temporary home for them here at the top house, to nurse them back to health and then release them again. One morning we opened the door of the house to start our day on the farm and before us stood a young hadeda (an African ibis). Instead of flying away when noticing us, it simply looked up and stared right back at us. When we stepped closer (and the bird still didn’t make any attempts to flee) we picked it up and then noticed it was injured. So we did what we always do, took it in, gave it a place to rest and heal while having access to food and water. We told Bernard how the bird had just stood there in front of the house and had allowed us to pick it up and nurse it. He replied that the bird knew we would take care of it and had come to us for help – and that the birds in the environment can resonantly pick up on who we are/have created ourselves to be when it comes to birds in need. And so, without knowing this would happen or intending for it to happen, we created a sanctuary for birds. We also put up bird nests around our house to support birds in spring with their young. During the day wild birds fly in and out of our house, picking up any crumbs or bugs they can find, to feed themselves and/or their young. We do feel like Snow-white sometimes, with our wild animal friends helping us clean up the house, lol. Living in nature is not only about having your house in a place that is surrounded by nature. Living in nature means living with nature – it requires a change in who you are, it requires you to be aware of the living world around you and aware of how your actions or inactions impact on that world and the beings in it. Are you supporting the life around you or are you compromising it? By our actions, our choices become known and nature responds in turn. So, what happens when we all choose life? What happens when we all live that choice? Let’s walk and find out!
www.desteni.org
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