BIRDS: They’ve flown the coop

Capitalism has provided me with a good education, years of continued employment, several business opportunities and a comfortable retirement. However, I have just enough Indian blood flowing through my veins to recognize that many of nature’s treasures are being displaced.

I grew up on a farm near Bonners Ferry, where my father farmed with teams of horses. The Great Depression was having its effect, so rather than spend money for bailing, we put up tons of loose hay to winter our stock.

The meadowlarks would gather atop the hay shocks and serenade us throughout the day. The bluebirds would rest on fence posts with grasshoppers or other bugs clasped in their beaks. We had one mother robin that would return annually to build her nest atop a column that supported our front porch. She would fuss at us for entering her territory.

My life has taken me about as close to heaven as you get in a lifetime on this Earth. That pristine environment is disappearing at an alarming rate. Prior to the demise of field-burning on the Rathdrum prairie, the birds mentioned above were common nearby. Now valuable topsoil that could support row crops is being stripped from the land, and far too many structures and asphalt roads contaminate the land above our aquifer.

Where have all the meadowlarks and bluebirds gone?

LEONARD BRANT

Post Falls