Over the years I have considered renaming the little strawbale cottage I live in “bird house” because of all the birds that live in, on and around my home. And every spring, bird activity hits overdrive.
Liz here, sharing a snapshot of life in an ecovillage in Missouri.
Spring is the season of firsts: first tick spotted, first fledgling caught in the chimney, first fledgling caught in the greenhouse, first fruit trees in bloom, first daffodils, first comfrey leaves emerging, first tulips, first snakes spotted crossing the gravel road, first sightings of the two very large snakes that patrol the perimeter of my house. The first thrusts of green grass is a visual relief, and a joy; then comes the resignation that I’m going to be mowing that grass at my house and the Hub for the next six months. The prairie makes for a fierce neighbor and over the nine years I’ve lived at DR I’ve learned not to fight it too much.
This year, after idly wondering for years about mourning doves and their life cycle, I noticed a mated pair built a nest within view of my kitchen window. Watching the larger of the pair sitting for days on the small nest, I was reminded of my own pregnancies. Gestation is a lot about biding one’s time. But this burgeoning family diverged from my own past; for during every thunderstorm (and we have had quite a few in the last three weeks), those parents were nowhere to be seen. At first I thought they had abandoned their nest, but as soon as the wind calmed down and the sun came out, they were back on sitting duty. I don’t have a good feeling about the outcome; but I’ll watch this story play out and I’ll probably learn something.
Starting in March until June, each time I open my door to leave my cottage, there is a burst of fluttering wings and bird squeaks as starlings dive out from a tiny space in my roof ridge where they nest, to the “safety” of the trees next to my house. Walking home on the gravel road, I can see them, keeping watch, with a few in the back and a few in the front of my house, their bodies waving high on branches of trees.
The first visitor program of the year has started. And it’s almost all hands on deck for village Rabbits. Visitor activities range from a Q&A evening, dance parties at Casa, karaoke nights, to bonfires by the pond, with two classes a day about life at DR, and daily check-ins, which often becomes a visitor’s favorite part of each day. Each visitor session I teach a class about natural building, using my own strawbale building project as the site for the class and as a living example. Visitors can also join work parties to help with gardening and other projects around the village. After a long winter, it’s nice to see new faces around here, and I enjoy meeting people from all over the country, usually at coffee group at the Mercantile in the morning.
Work exchangers (or wexers, as we call them) are also beginning to arrive. A month or so spent exchanging work on various projects around the village for a tent spot and meals, plus all the social events in the village, and opportunities to sit in on some of the visitor classes, provides an affordable way to slip into village life and get to know many Rabbits.
A few weeks ago Rabbits gathered to do our twice a year Land Clean Day. After a brief circle up with announcements and a song, we scattered to do various tasks for village beautification. There are big tasks, such as pruning tree limbs and then hauling them in the truck to a burning pile for making bio char, or spreading mulch along paths that are extra muddy from all the storms we’ve been having. This year I elected to clean up the recycling area that resides inside a large metal building we call the Machine Shop. For weeks I had been stepping over sharp objects (screws, can lids, nails, etc.) scattered on the floor in that area, so I decided to start with picking up those items. Then I consolidated materials in like categories and picked up lots of recycling items off the floor and put them into their proper bins. I broke down cardboard boxes and stacked them. In the afternoon, Rabbits concentrate on cleaning up their own warrens. Land Clean Day is one of the ways we get ready for the visitor season.
Liz Hackney is editor and a contributing writer to this publication. Any day now, she will start the 2026 building season on her strawbale building project called the Hub. To learn more about this project, see thehubcollective.substack.com.