Wednesday, May 15, 2013

An Obsession


Indigo bunting

Rose breasted grosbeaks

We, all three of us, have a confession to make...we have been spending far too much time with our eyes behind binoculars and our noses buried in bird books.

We have always had an interest in the birds that make our backyard their home, but this year, for whatever reason, we are noticing so many amazing birds we have not seen in our backyard before. I will admit it is very exciting and has us checking out the back door often to see who is at the feeders.

A few weeks ago I shared a list of some of the birds we had been seeing but this weekend tops that list. On Saturday morning alone 15 different birds stopped by to visit our feeders and hang out for a while. We basically spent the morning glued to the back door.

Here's a little list of what we saw:
~ rose breasted grosbeaks
~ cardinals
~ goldfinches
~ red wing blackbirds
~ chipping sparrows
~ robins, we have been watching them make a nest and now mama robin sits patiently on her eggs
~ cowbirds
~ blue jays, at one point Saturday afternoon about 20 blue jays swooped down on the feeders, it was amazing to watch
~ red breasted nuthatches
~ eastern towhee
~ song sparrows
~ white crowned sparrows
~ chickadees
~ morning doves
~ indigo bunting, this was a special treat. He was beautiful and hung around Saturday and Sunday. We have not seen him since.

I can't really describe how exciting it was to see all this action in our backyard. Watching Reece look up the birds in the book, asking us to read him the information about them and seeing him with binoculars in hand looking at the birds...well, it fills me with so much joy. It is pretty amazing to witness the birds in our backyard, but even more amazing to witness the pure joy Reece exudes as he watches and learns about the birds in our backyard.

*** I wish I had better pictures, these were taken from inside and from quite a distance. It would be okay to assume I have been looking at lenses :)

25 comments:

  1. Those are gorgeous birds. I remember the bird feeder we had a a child and doing the same thing...the first bright red cardinal on a snowy day was epic. Enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They are, first time we have seen them in our yard, super excited! The cardinals are a favourite of mine.

      Delete
  2. What fun! I am so excited to lean (and see) more of the birds in my area!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank your for sharing these lovely bird moments. I was not a very confident bird watcher, but my dear friend passed on a great bird book to me. Then she called me absolutely ecstatic on the phone one afternoon because a flock of rose-breasted grosbeaks had landed in her yard, very infrequently seen on Cape Cod. As she was talking to me, I pulled out her bird book to learn what they looked like. As I was looking at the colorful grosbeak images in the book, I looked out my picture window into my back yard in Vermont to see a flock of rose breasted grosbeaks!! It was one of life's wonderful confirmations for me of beauty landing in our backyard if we have the eyes to see it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My pleasure and thank you for sharing yours. How exciting! That is the key, opening your eyes to see it. We call it having our "owl eyes" on...open to see the world around us.

      Delete
  4. Oh goodness, I can so relate. Years ago our Winter boy began an interest in birds and it caught on with all of us, and turned into a passion! I remember in college wondering how on earth the "birders" could stand to spend so much time watching the birds. Now I know. . . they are wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I use to wonder the exact same thing, now I get it :)

      Delete
  5. Oh I also wanted to say: we also have noticed birds we hadn't before. I wonder if it's to do with climate change.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We have been asking ourselves the same thing. Especially when the eastern towhee showed up, not a usual visitor here. I guess climate change could be part of it. Might have to ask some of our birding friends and see what they have to say. I will let you know if I find anything out.

      Delete
  6. Great!
    We have birdfeeders too in our backyard, at the moment though they are empty???
    Our birds are not as colourful as yours, but we enjoy watching them anyway!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. that is so awesome! we are quite obsessed with birds too and keep checking a really cool (german) app we have on our phones to identify ones we see. i am still on the lookout for a bird identification book for kids that is relevant for our region (germany/northern europe). we only have a balcony and have been able to spot different kinds of birds, even though it is a lot harder to put up feeders for birds in a city, as they attract unwelcome pidgeons. so we're concentrating on the little birds :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is! How cool to have an app, I am sure they have one here too, we just don't use them. Good luck finding a bird book.

      Delete
  8. What a great obsession to have and fantastic it's all in your backyard! The pics are amazing - imagine with lenses??? Oooohhhhhh!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We are pretty excited to have them all visiting our yard, so special. Thanks, and yes I can imagine them with a lens...but yikes, the cost.

      Delete
  9. Love this! We have been doing the same and are amazed at the variety here in New Mexico.
    It is just the best ever to see the kids so excited to spot them, watching their different mannerisms, and looking them up... really studying them!
    Watching birds makes me want a new lens too! :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Dawn. I think that is the best thing for me, watching Reece and his excitement at seeing them and then running to look them up. It is pretty special to witness it.

      Delete
  10. That would be amazing to see all those birds in your own backyard.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Really need to get us some binoculars and a good bird book... my kids are really interested in our backyard birds. yesterday my kids came in from the yard pleased as punch dragging a mangled chickadee carcass. They were so interested to look at the feathers, and I was too (after I freaked out and washed their hands)! Going to look into an app for sure, that is a great idea.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh yes for sure, totally changes the experience. Yikes on the carcass...but a lot of fun to look at I bet :)

      Delete
  12. It's so incredible how many birds come to visit when you really stop to look. Isadora and I have been spending way more time outside lately and I have been taking note of all of the birds, some I recognize and others I need to look up, but can't seem to find our bird book. I never knew there would be so many in our neighborhood.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is! We have been finding the same thing, the more we pay attention the more birds we notice. It is amazing.

      Delete