Established Seasons

Seasons…spring, summer, fall, winter…prearranged,

specific, predictable periods of time.

Appointed…fixed, arranged, settled long ago.

Two are for migration.

The common loon, state bird of Minnesota, winters on the Gulf of Mexico.

Seasonal bird and animal journeys to raise young, and food.

Voyages filled with difficult weather, navigating terrain confusing to humans.

Without GPS, and no radar, birds arrive or depart with predictable regularity.

Most humans are unaware of the epic migratory journeys of spring and fall.

4,000 species of birds…40 percent of the world’s birds migrate.

These female purple finches are short distance migrators.

The arctic tern migrates 49,700 miles round trip.

The bar tailed godwit flies 7,000 miles without stopping…no food, no rest.

Migration is happening now.

God’s appointed design.

The white throated sparrow has, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful calls in all bird song. And, these birds are in our backyard for only a season…a brief one, they nest farther north.

Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons, and the dove, the swift and the thrush observe the time of their migration. But my people do not know the requirements of the Lord. Jeremiah 8:7

This is the male purple finch…not here for long. Its large finch bill easily cracks sunflowers that have fallen from the feeders above.