I think we consider too much the good luck of the early bird and not enough the bad luck of the early worm. — Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States (1882-1945)

What wild creature is more accessible to our eyes and ears, as close to us and everyone in the world, as universal as a bird. — Sir David Attenborough, Biologist, Natural historian, English Broadcaster (1926-)

After the rains came and temperature warmed, flocks of robins scattered across the ground. I watched from the window as the robins snatch their heads from side to side pushing aside fallen oak leaves and making small clearings. The ground was still saturated from rain and in several spots created standing puddles. The robins hopped along pecking here and there at the ground routinely looking for worms. The ground was so saturated earthworms having buried themselves in the soil for the winter were flushed out of their burrows by water. When worms can’t get enough oxygen, they surface much to the joy of the robins. It also appears worms get confused and can’t find their way back to their burrows. They become the proverbial “sitting ducks.” Some studies suggest they do not get lost from their burrows but use the softened soil to travel. In any case worms on the loose become “sitting ducks” for flocks of robins and other worm eating birds. In case you enjoy learning a new word, here’s one you will likely never use in conversation: vermiphagia, which means “eating worms.” There’s also a word for fear of worms: vermiphobia and scoleciphobia.

As a child after heavy rains, worms would cover the sidewalk where we lived. I remember thinking it was just so icky so I would play hopscotch around the worms. By the next day they would be dried out or gone. As an adult I bought a carton of large earthworms for my garden from a young entrepreneur. Prairie soil is full of thick clay and often hard to deal with. I expected these earthworms to aerate my soil and hopefully they did.

When the rains dried up the robins left. Besides worms, robins will feed on all kinds of berries. Possumhaw trees produce bright red berries here in the Prairie just for the taking. Robins often feed on spiders, termites, beetles, crickets and other insects. Some birds eat ladybugs, of which we have many.        

Just before the arrival of the robins we had two blue jays visit us. I was so enamored of the birds’ coloring I tried to take a picture through the window. Even though it was a terribly blurry picture I sent it to a friend on the west coast. The friend responded, “What kind of jays do you have?”

I wasn’t sure what kind there were so I relied on “The Sibley Guide to Birds.” To my surprise there are 20 different species of blue jays. Our resident blue jays cover the largest areas of blue jay habitat. They have no fancy name like the “Steller’s jay” found on the west coast or the Pinyon jay and the Clark’s Nutcracker jay of the mountainous west. Blue jays have a number of positive qualities. They are intelligent, monogamous, they store food for later (acorns), they can mimic other birds, even cats or if kept in captivity somewhat human speech.

The smart blue jays are right outside our window, it’s an ever amazing world.    

Shannon Bardwell is a writer living quietly in the Prairie. Email reaches her at [email protected].