I’m grateful today for simple things, like the birds at the birdfeeder, their songs in the morning, and the antics of another inhabitant of the yard–brother squirrel–hanging from the eave batting down on the top of the feeder in a vain attempt to get at the easy pickings inside. I am not sure why he keeps trying, perhaps the birds make it look so tantalizingly easy that he can’t resist. That this all unfolds right outside my living room window is deeply satisfying, as that is why I situated the feeder there in the first place.
I had at first despaired that perhaps the birds wouldn’t discover the feeder this year; I’d filled and hung it back in November and waited through the winter (such as it was) for my winged neighbors to discover it. Brother squirrel visited at least three times, giving up rather quickly as there is no good way for him to get to it. I filled the feeder with a variety of seeds supposedly selected for songbirds; there was a picture of the Northern Cardinal–one of my favorite birds–on the bag. It seems that it’s only been in the last week or so that birds have not only discovered it, but now frequent it, flitting in in twos and threes. I took several pictures today, delighting in the details I could pick out as I zoomed in on today’s visitors. I haven’t made the time yet to go to allaboutbirds.org to determine what species it is, but I’ll be doing that tomorrow. I am not embarrassed to admit that I’m a bird/nature nerd and always have been.
My Friend at the Feeder
I have not yet decided if I am going to turn into a full-fledged birdwatcher; although I have binoculars and a few field guides to different birds, I haven’t dedicated myself to serious birding. I am fairly determined, however to discover the identity of the “little bird with the big voice” that has eluded me during the months I’ve been here. I first heard it near campus in Fairfax–it was as loud and clear as a cardinal, for which I first mistook it so clear was its call. I’ve since heard it or something like it in my back yard, though I haven’t zeroed in on it yet. Those of you who read my blog last summer will recall my intensive search for the relentlessly noisy dark-eyed junco whose shrill shrieking interrupted my sleep many summer mornings at 5 a.m. when I’d rather have been sleeping. I hunted the junco (not literally, of course) in the woods near my condo until I managed to snap a fuzzy picture of it on my phone. Eventually after cruising through pictures on allaboutbirds, I discovered what it was. I plan to engage in the same process to determine who the little bird with the big voice is.
I am grateful for the beauty of nature that surrounds me. No matter where I’ve lived in my life, I find it–or it finds me. And while I don’t have the wild turkeys here who used to provide a rich source of comical entertainment back in California, I manage to enjoy the beauty of my feathered friends and the comic relief of the squirrels. I am looking forward to the spring and summer to allow my inner birdwatcher to emerge. In the meantime I need look no further than my living room window to enjoy the creatures who visit the feeder each day. And for that I am truly grateful.
