BIRDING 101

Well, true to the schedule, John and I awoke early, very early by my standards, Friday morning, April 30, to tag along on the Wesselman Nature Center bird 'hike'. This was instead of our original plan to go to Audubon Park on Saturday, which ended up being a very good decision - the weekend was a total washout, and I know you know what I'm talking about!!!!

Wesselman Park was beautiful, and I don't know why, but in all the years I have been here, I haven't ventured much on the trails. I intend to do so more often now, and not just to see the birds. It is a very tranquil, idyllic place.

A little history lesson though before we continue. Perhaps you are wondering why I picked bird sightings as one of my 55 activities - I will try to explain. When I was quite small, my father got me involved in bird-watching, as it was called then. He is an avid birder, having actually studied Ornithology at Cornell. It was a fascinating subject to me, and I loved bird-watching. I had bird books, birdsong records, I belonged to the Junior Audubon Society and the Griggsville Wild Bird Society ("It's Purple Martin Time!"). Because of my father, it became an early passion. I even talked about becoming an ornithologist, proud most of all that I could pronounce and spell it.

Then I met the clarinet. And I began to realize, too, how much math would be required to study a science such as Ornithology in college. So, over the years, my early birding skills kind of fell behind. Now my dad - that's a whole 'nother story! He is still the champion birder of all time, and his skill and knowledge are legendary. It would take a lot more than my meager 55 sightings this year to compete with him! But the 55 is a start, and it gets me into wonderful places like Wesselman Woods on a beautiful spring morning, so I think this was a very good decision for the list!

I added 15 more birds to the list, making a total of 28. These were the birds we saw and/or heard on our short trek:

White-breasted nuthatch
Downy woodpecker
Yellow-rumped warbler
Rose-breasted grosbeak
Tennessee warbler
Carolina wren
Red-eyed vireo
Kingbird
Carolina chickadee
House wren
Bluebird
Field sparrow
Common yellowthroat
Red bellied woodpecker
Eastern phoebe

And, a DEER! She came bounding out of one of the clearings toward our small group of binocular-clad birders, stopping dead upon seeing us. Then for a full minute, we stared at her through our binoculars (though she was barely 20 feet away) and she stared back, before she twitched her tail and bounded into the brush. Aaah. I really do like to be outside, I've decided.


More tomorrow! MAY 5!