Sue, what perfect timing! I was at my writing desk early this morning when a parade of birds began appearing. Cardinals, Blue Birds, Brown Thrashers, and more. They were enjoying the seeds from a stand of longleaf pines out back. In just 5-10 minutes of observing them, I felt completely recharged to get back to the work of creating. It never fails.
While proofing and editing this morning, I was entirely distracted by four wild turkeys jockeying for some spilled seed. Thank goodness they moved on so I could get this out today! I agree - watching birds is both entertaining and calming.
Corvids are so fun to watch! Thank you for this interesting post and for Linda Steider's photos. She is an amazing photographer with an excellent eye!
Five birds: magpie, flicker, red-tailed hawk, crow, raven
Five more birds: mountain bluebird, meadowlark, junco, chickadee, killdeer
Five more: Canada geese, blue heron, house wren, cliff swallow, robin (so obvious I almost forgot!)
An excellent book by Marina Richie, "Halcyon Journey, In Search of the Belted Kingfisher" is a wonderful read about her dedicated study of the belted kingfisher. Highly recommend if you like birds!
A fun read and interesting facts, Sue. I was in town a week or so ago at a drive-through coffee place and watched a crow repeatedly dropping some sort of nut from a street light perch to the pavement below. It fluttered straight down, dodged vehicles, picked up the tidbit, and repeated the process.
"Last fall, I strategically located my feeders so that I could see them from my living room windows. In my pajamas and robe, seated comfortably in my favorite chair, I use binoculars to observe my visiting birds' eating and territorial behaviors." I enjoyed your newsletter. Your description above of sitting and watching is what I call BBB, or Birding by Butt. It's one of my favorite practices.
Hasn't Merlin transformed the experience of birding? That and digital recordings of bird songs and calls, too; in my younger years, I never was able to learn to identify birds by sound. Now I know quite a few, because of access to digital files.
Sue, what perfect timing! I was at my writing desk early this morning when a parade of birds began appearing. Cardinals, Blue Birds, Brown Thrashers, and more. They were enjoying the seeds from a stand of longleaf pines out back. In just 5-10 minutes of observing them, I felt completely recharged to get back to the work of creating. It never fails.
While proofing and editing this morning, I was entirely distracted by four wild turkeys jockeying for some spilled seed. Thank goodness they moved on so I could get this out today! I agree - watching birds is both entertaining and calming.
Thanks for your comment, Ginger.
Corvids are so fun to watch! Thank you for this interesting post and for Linda Steider's photos. She is an amazing photographer with an excellent eye!
Five birds: magpie, flicker, red-tailed hawk, crow, raven
Five more birds: mountain bluebird, meadowlark, junco, chickadee, killdeer
Five more: Canada geese, blue heron, house wren, cliff swallow, robin (so obvious I almost forgot!)
An excellent book by Marina Richie, "Halcyon Journey, In Search of the Belted Kingfisher" is a wonderful read about her dedicated study of the belted kingfisher. Highly recommend if you like birds!
I love Meadowlark's song! And I forgot about mountain bluebirds! Thx for the book rec - on my list.
Marina Richie also has an excellent blog: https://marinarichie.com
The meadowlark's song is my favorite bird song. I think it was encoded on my DNA from before I remember, out on the Montana prairies.
Wonderful writing and spectacular photos. You and Linda make a great team, Sue!
Thank you April. It was a bit long - I am working on narrowing my focus and severe editing.
Linda is an amazing photographer - she catches animals living their lives!
A fun read and interesting facts, Sue. I was in town a week or so ago at a drive-through coffee place and watched a crow repeatedly dropping some sort of nut from a street light perch to the pavement below. It fluttered straight down, dodged vehicles, picked up the tidbit, and repeated the process.
"Last fall, I strategically located my feeders so that I could see them from my living room windows. In my pajamas and robe, seated comfortably in my favorite chair, I use binoculars to observe my visiting birds' eating and territorial behaviors." I enjoyed your newsletter. Your description above of sitting and watching is what I call BBB, or Birding by Butt. It's one of my favorite practices.
I love "birding by butt!"
Thanks for reading and commenting, David. I read your newsletter regularly.
They say there's poetry in birding...and alliteration. Thanks for reading my Street Smart Naturalist newsletter.
Hasn't Merlin transformed the experience of birding? That and digital recordings of bird songs and calls, too; in my younger years, I never was able to learn to identify birds by sound. Now I know quite a few, because of access to digital files.
I have been a long time fan of Cornell's website and Merlin was like dessert!