I know most folks tend to measure wealth in assets like bank accounts, 401k’s, and real estate holdings. Come early winter, however, I measure my wealth in pine grosbeaks.
The first few showed up at our feeders a bit earlier than usual this year, when three immature birds turned up one day in mid-November. I knew the pine grosbeaks were in the area, since I’d heard them calling in the woods around the house since late October. Those first sweet notes always brighten my mood and remind me that months of their daily presence at our feeders are in the offing.
This year, I heard more than my usual number of pine grosbeaks in October, and it always generates a feeling of satisfaction for me. While at least a few of these gorgeous birds, with males the color of plum wine, spend winter in the North Country every year, most folks in our area who feed birds count on good numbers of them to keep winters fully stocked with their color and sweet music.
In conversations with friends in the area, I’ve noticed the subject of pine grosbeaks is a frequent topic, and it’s apparent that we not only note the presence of pine grosbeaks but can usually provide the exact number that are currently regulars at our feeders. I’m not normally a “keep up with the Joneses” kind of guy (I live off-grid way out in the woods, after all), but when it comes to pine grosbeaks I always want at least as many as my friends, and a couple more is definitely preferred.
I couldn’t tell you my current bank account balance, but I do know that the number of pine grosbeaks now coming to our feeders every morning was up to eight as of Monday this week, and that number has been increasing almost daily, kind of like compound interest.
In years’ past, it has often taken the first real snow to bring the pine grosbeaks in, so the fact that they started showing up earlier than usual this year is a sign that we have more than the usual number out in the woods right now. I’ve noticed that once they arrive, their numbers typically continue to increase for a few weeks before leveling off. I’m hopeful that I’ll have at least 20 of them by Christmas, at which point I could claim to be a very wealthy man.
I am well aware that the “wealth” I’m calculating from pine grosbeaks is all in my mind. In reality, they detract from my financial wealth since I’m constantly buying 50-lb. sacks of sunflower seeds to keep them happy. I’ve also started feeding them safflower seeds, which are even more expensive. It’s not that they like safflower seeds any better, but at least the greedy blue jays (which don’t like them) won’t haul all the seeds away.
But isn’t wealth, after all, almost always in our minds? I’ve often wondered at the value so many people place on things like gold. Other than being shiny, it has little intrinsic worth, other than that certain societies have, over the centuries, deemed it to be valuable. Yet, it doesn’t sing or sit in a tree in the morning sunlight. It isn’t a wild creature, here only for a few months for us to enjoy, before heading back north of the border for the breeding season. We won’t wait with anticipation in October for the first friendly notes of a gold bar, signaling their return for another season brightening our feeders.
Gold may be associated with wealth and luxurious living, but I’ll take pine grosbeaks any day. For me, they’re the ultimate luxury.