When nature made the blue-bird
she wished to propitiate both the sky and the earth,
so she gave him the color of the one on his back
and the hue of the other on his breast.
-John Burroughs
My ear for bird calls is getting pretty good. Not that I walk about and consciously think, “Aah, there’s a cardinal, there a robin, there the nuthatch,” but when something chitters overhead that I’m not familiar with, it stands out in stark relief.
Yay! We have bluebirds! This is the female, I think; I have one other photo of a bird that is much more brilliantly blue, but not focused properly (grrr, stupid tree branches getting in my way).
I’d only seen them once before so I was pretty thrilled to get some photos.
We picked up some more birdhouses at the Tri-State Bird Rescue open house on Sunday so I hope I can convince these guys to stay awhile. Or is it too late?
What little accomplishment are you proud of this week?
I am a bird fanatic. Call me a nerd, but I get excited when migratory season comes around so I can observe all the exotic birds pasing through!
OK…nerd.
No, I'm kidding. Last year we had a scarlet tanager in the yard, a bird I had never seen before. I reverently marched everybody out to see it… they were less than impressed, because they had no concept of which birds are common and which are not. This year they are better prepared, I just hope we see some transients as a reward!