Yesterday a Blue Jay invaded our birdfeeders. I knew it was a Blue Jay because it looked like the picture on the baseball team uniforms. I now know three things about Blue Jays:
They’re actually some kind of member of the crow family.
They’re not really blue, that’s an optical illusion.
They’re jerks, diving in and scaring off all of the little birds.
I have also seen robins. I know them because, well let’s face it, it’s one the most recognisable birds in North America. They don’t go to the bird feeders, and mostly just hang out on the ground.
And I’ve seen lots of other birds - black, yellow, brown…. little ones. And Mourning Doves, which we actually managed to find in the Audubon book and name. Now I have been asked to build a dovecot.
Beyond that I tend to label them as little yellow birds, or little brown birds or… whatever comes to mind.
I have spent decades avoiding being a bird-watcher. On the list of things I had no intention of learning, much less getting seriously involved in, birdwatching is right at the bottom. Sorry, at the top.
Whenever I heard stories of people spending a whole day, in the rain, in winter, just to catch a glimpse of one bird or another I thought, “life is too short, and there are too many more important things to explore.”
So I’m now rather embarrassed to admit that I stop at our patio doors and just stand there watching the little buggers as they eat and throw seeds all over the deck. And yes, I’m buying the fancy high-end bird seeds, not the cheap corn-laden supermarket stuff. And yes, in addition to our existing three feeders I just picked up a hummingbird feeder because I read that they are arriving in these parts.
And yes, I’m also really wondering if some of these birds just show up for a few days then disappear somewhere else…
And I worry that we’ll be invaded by squirrels…
Sigh. I am so disappointed in myself.
I'm not. I'm proud of you. Gramma Hazel would be proud of you (especially for the hummingbird feeder). I love this piece of you. Then again, I'm terribly fond of all the pieces of you so perhaps I'm biased. Still, watch the birds. There is psychological fascination in their social dynamics and though, yes, some are "jerks", many have more etiquette than the average human I know.
Also, their songs, the sound of their fluttering presence and chatter. I'm not sure what it is but it IS soothing, isn't it, somehow.
I admire what I'm learning of your carpentry skills as well.
Mom would like to know how the house repairs themselves are coming; the ones that keep next year's critters out 😉
I'm now off to research blue Jays and the actual colour of their feathers.