Are you a Morning Lark or a Night Owl? Have you ever heard the expression “The early bird gets the worm”? There are many idioms that have to do with birds. A few more examples of these are: making sure you have a “nest egg”, “spread your wings”, “birds of a feather flock together”, “a bird in hand is worth two in the bush”… Apparently, sayings about the feathered creatures have been around for centuries. The magnificent winged animals are believed to be descendants of dinosaurs, no wonder there are so many expressions about them!
In my youth, a slow “relationship” with birds began. I wasn’t a great observer nor was there much interest in spending hours watching these feathered animals. My father taught me the call of a chickadee: “chick-a-dee-dee-dee”; it became a bird I could identify by sight and sound. In my youth the chickadee became my favorite bird. Another childhood experience with birds was during our summers in Muskoka. At least once a summer dad would take us on a family boat ride to an island that he called “heron” island. There we would see the Great Blue Heron nesting with their young. As I grew into adulthood, my dad complained that this special bird nesting ground was being overrun with cormorants.
For years, little notice was taken of my “feathered friends”, but here are a few scattered memories: there was the time, while living in London when a pigeon landed on my head; in my early twenties, I became intrigued with the Blue Footed Boobie; lastly, one day on a bike ride, at the age of 27, a bird pooped on me (which is said to be good luck) and some positive fortune came my way that night. That was the extent of it, although I am sure there was much use of bird idioms with complete disregard to the avian origin of these phrases.
The year our son was in 5th grade, he became fascinated with birds. As parents, we wanted to encourage this hobby; my husband was a little more gung-ho than I was. Part of spring break of 2015 was spent in Cape May, NJ; it was the beginning of the spring migration. Unfortunately, our son got sick and didn’t enjoy our time looking for birds.
Later that spring and summer, there were many opportunities for bird watching: a camping trip, outdoor day trips, and then time at our cottage. Back then, the hobby of birding was a little slow paced for me and my neck hurt from looking up for the songsters in the trees! However, during this period, I learned taking pictures of birds was rewarding.
When our middle child started to watch and learn about birds, he taught us that the “Canadian Goose” refers to any goose from Canada, while “Canada Goose” refers specifically to the large goose with a black head and neck.
We also learned that “Sea Gull” is a misnomer; there are many different types of gulls and they don’t all live by the sea.
For a summer or two, my son and I would walk our dog early in the morning. One day, this young owl was sitting in the tree as we walked. I didn’t have my phone or my camera on me. As we headed back to the cottage, this little bird of prey was still there. On a chance, leaving my son and pooch at home, I went back to where the night bird was perched. He was still there!
My son seemingly lost his interest in watching birds, but I continued taking their pictures. Between the years 2016-2018 many bird photos were taken, either in our backyard or on trips:
After our trip to Alaska, as I have written about before, our middle child told us he was depressed with extreme suicidal ideation. We struggled as a family, mentally and emotionally for quite awhile. Although, I took many pictures of nature between the summer of 2018 through the spring of 2021, almost none were of birds.
Sometime in 2019, as we were trying to ground ourselves, I learned that my husband found his calm in watching birds in our yard. That was news to me and very different from how I centered myself. When COVID restrictions were lifted in the state parks, in 2020, my husband was spending a great deal of time outdoors; this is probably when his interest in “birding” started to take off. Meanwhile, I was walking for exercise and then eventually swimming (once the pool reopened); this is how I found my inner peace. I hadn’t accepted the slow patience to seek our feathered friends in nature.
My hiatus of bird photography ended in 2021, since then I have taken an abundance of pictures featuring these magnificent creatures. When this story was started, there were over 1,900 pictures as I searched “bird” in my photo library. Now, I have whittled it down to 800+ photos. Here are some of my favorites:
Our backyard is full of feeders for the bluebirds, crows, pileated woodpeckers, gold finches, chickadees, the adorable Carolina wren and multiple other birds. I enjoy watching the birds at the many feeders behind the house. This winter was cold and snowier than usual for our area. The colors of the birds in the woods stood out and were easier to see from our kitchen window. Because the snow became somewhat icy, my husband started throwing mealworms on top of the snow (or ice) that lay on our deck; the blue birds became accustomed to it. One day, while my spouse was out of town and I sat at the kitchen table looking out at the deck. The blue birds were there looking for their food. They were out of the savory morsels that they so desired. What amazed me was that these beautiful little birds knew where their food came from: they hopped toward our sliding glass door looking in as if to say “where is my food?” A stupid person is often called a “bird brain”, but in my humble opinion birds are highly intelligent animals!
I have been asked by friends “are you a birder”? My answer is: “No, I like to take pictures of birds.” In recent years, although still a novice in this art, I have used my photos as inspiration to create jewelry.
The Great Blue Heron was practicing some of the techniques I learned with texturing, sawing and finally riveting the bail on the pendant.
I’m more of an observer of birds. To me, a “birder” is someone who knows the names of different species of the flying creatures, what they look like, and perhaps can recognize the calls of the winged animals. After many sightings, quite a few birds are recognized by me. I am not a birder, but my husband is. I love the way he lights up when talking about birds and their behavior. At times he can isolate the song of a specific bird among all the others that might be singing. If we are out for a walk in nature together, my spouse will point out a bird and tell me what he knows about it, as I try to capture a photo before our feathered friend takes flight. When we go on outings like this, we are partners in the process; it is a nice way to spend time together. As I grow older perhaps the hobby of “birding” will be taken up, but for now my place as “bird observer” is fine by me.
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