Bird watching

Our hummingbird hatchlings are two weeks old today. Still looking kind of scruffy, aren’t they?

I come from a long line of bird watchers – most notably, my Nana. While washing the dishes, she’d stare out the kitchen window, warbling “His Eye is on the Sparrow” to her canaries. She’d flap her arms excitedly when she heard a cooing dove or saw a red-breasted robin hopping across the grass. She was a wee little thing, with bird legs and a beakish nose. She watched my father like a hawk.

 

When I described my obsession with attentiveness to these hummingbirds, a close friend suggested I might be getting old. “Ornithology’s for senior citizens,” she said. “Next I know, you’ll be stalking birds in a netted vest and cargo shorts, huge binoculars slung around your neck, and sticks and feathers poking out from your floppy-brimmed hat.” Yeah, um, right. Wondering…Can you traipse through bird sanctuaries in Valentino sunglasses and flip-flops? 

31 Comments

    • Ah, it *is* spring here. It’s about 75 degrees today and really sunny. )Oh, should I not have mentioned that?) I’m amazed by the difference in our climates — and birds!

  4. Aw – no way on the senior citizens… although, some of the places/times I’ve been bird watching, a senior cit would have to be pretty hale & hearty! (zero degrees, windy, late afternoon, hiking around looking for raptors & owls) (oh, yeah – it was worth it! Over 50 short-eared owls woke up, stretching, looking and swooping – I felt like I was at Hogwarts when the owls deliver mail!

    • Uh, YIKES! Really cool and all, but swooping and dive-bombing the area where you were standing? And at zero degrees, no less? YIKES!

      I like the fact that Mama Hummingbird built her nest right outside my picture window. It’s so much more convenient. LOL.

      • You know, bird-wise, it was the most amazing time I think I’ve ever had. They weren’t threatening us or anything – just sailing around like owls do (I guess!) It was completely magical! (of course, it was an hour before I got my feet warm! lol)

  6. Birds Rock!

    My mom started getting all bridy when she & my dad got a house on Cape Cod. Tons of cute winged-things to watch there. Then I started to recognize a nut-hatch from a golden finch. Now my 19-month old daughter is a certified bird-aholic. It’s gotten to the point where, as soon as we get to the Cape house, she grabs my mom’s hand and leads her to the back door as if to say: “Let’s go watch the birds now, Nana!”

    Even in February. 😉

    So, see? Bird appreciation knows no age. There are three generations of bird-girls in my family!

    • Re: Birds Rock!

      That’s so cool that your cutie-patootie likes birds! And that she calls her grandmother Nana? That melts my heart.

      Do you put bird feeders out in the wintertime? We just put up finch feeders (Niger seed) and hummingbird feeders. Cracks me up when the doves park their fat behinds on the skinny little ledge under the finch feeder.

  7. Who, seriously, would not be fascinated by a hummingbird nest? I know I would. Although my nest stories have always been tales of woe! I’m a little horrified when spring comes around, praying the birds will put their nests elsewhere so I don’t have to worry over them.

    • Oh, I know just how you feel. I run to the window every morning, just to be sure nothing bad happened during the night. And, well, I posted the story about the time I panicked about Mama Hummingbird. I’m so gone on those tiny birds!

  8. “for senior citizens”

    Uh-uh. An Owl Prowl in our area in February is geared towards kids, although accompanying adults are welcome. Besides you have to be fit and agile to find and follow those elusive creatures around.

    • Re: “for senior citizens”

      Exactly.

      An Owl Prowl, huh? How cool is that? Have you done it?

      The owl in your icon is beautiful. It reminds me of a watercolor painting of an owl in a book my husband just bought me as a surprise, FLIGHT PLANS: A Bird’s Eye View of Life. On the page with an owl painting, the quotation is this: “If at first you DO succeed, try to hide your surprise.” Do you love it?!?

  11. I’m always dragging my kid off to Squaw Creek to watch birds. She knows the difference between a mourning dove and an owl, soundwise.

    Also, all the ornithologists I know aren’t that old. They’re biologists! My gosh, biologists are the most vigorous people on the planet! It’s hard to keep up with ’em!

    So tell your friend to put her stereotypes away. She ought to be getting excited about those baby hummingbirds, those extraordinary and tiny little jewels. Not to mention that cunning little nest. Wow!

    • That is so cool. It’s not easy to distinguish the two sounds, unless you really listen.

      You’re so right about biologists! They’re the epitome of life! No surprise, since that’s what they study.

      My friend was just giving me a hard time, methinks. I’ll have to educate her about stereotypes, though. Sounds like the concensus is that ornithologists are hale, hearty, and popular souls!

      Are you seeing any robins yet? I wish we had them where I live!

      • They generally show up in mid-February, but we’ve had crazy cold weather, snow everywhere since December. I saw the first robin just this weekend. He was sitting high in a sycamore complaining with loud chirps. I tried to whistle a robin’s warble at him, and he just cheeped at me.

        Robins seem to always be taken aback by the weather when they first arrive. Usually they’re standing out in the road by some meltwater, the wind ruffling their feathers backward, and they look pathetic.

        • “Robins seem to always be taken aback by the weather when they first arrive. Usually they’re standing out in the road by some meltwater, the wind ruffling their feathers backward, and they look pathetic.”

          I love how you wrote this! It’s just how I remember seeing them when Nana pointed them out to me. *covets your description*

  12. Oh look at those hungry little sweetlings! I’m going to get my son to see this photo. We’ve been so enjoying each one.

    Um, something wrong with cargo shorts? 😉

    • They look more like birdies than reptiles in this shot, don’t you think? They grow so fast…

      Nah, not where I’m concerned. I think it was the netted vest, along with the floppy-brimmed hat decorated with twigs and feathers, that made the outfit seem, er, less than fashionable. 🙂

  13. My what hungry babies!!

    You are definitely not in the senior citizen category!! And even those of us who are, don’t act our age! lol
    IMHO, you are only old when regrets take the place of dreams!

    What’s wrong with Valentino sunglasses or even cargo pants…we all can’t parade around in short shorts! I’d nix the flip flops, unless you were at home.

    • They are starvlings, it seems. 🙂

      I love your definition for being old. I hope I never get to that point.

      Nothing wrong with either choice, is there? Life’s not about either-or. Except maybe for the flip-flops. I can certainly see the limitations.

      xo

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