good morning for birds

sunrise:  6:48  cold and crystal clear

Another Saturday rising, but less taxing for some reason, even though I was up past eleven.  Maybe it was the clarity of the air, the bright rising light, and all of the avian singing.   It was a good morning for birds.

I imagined that when March and April arrive I will be inundated with song, but never realized how many I might need to identify in February.  I'll have to educate myself.  There's a CD somewhere in this house with songs on it...

I am not good at spotting the birds even when I hear them clearly.  Is there a technique for interpreting how far away to look?  or strategies for bird-spotting?  Maybe I'll try carrying binoculars.  If anyone has other tips, I'd love to hear them!

Crows are easy, and I know the chickadee well.  I can also hear a woodpecker hammering for breakfast somewhere.  I suspect it's a pileated woodpecker since we've seen a pair nesting in an old dead tree across the street. The cardinal I've gotten pretty good at too.  But there are songs I'm hearing, and don't even know what kind of bird to look for.

One of the nice parts of the whole exercise is that it makes me stop, stand still, and listen for a while.  It just doesn't happen enough.
 
*********

N. goes back to school today, and we won't see her again until after her 21st birthday.  And she won't see Dad until after his (50th!).  So we had a rather informal opening of gifts last night.  N. and I went out and bought a box full of plants as part of her gift, so we're sending her to school with greenery to give life to her living space.

February/March used to be a crazed time for this household - starting with Valentine's Day and then four family birthdays in just over two weeks.  We always tried to make everyone feel properly celebrated, which was great fun, albeit exhausting.

It's still a tiny bit sad every time she leaves.