Bird Watching

I remember spending time with my Grandma when I was a young girl, growing up just outside of Houston, Texas. She was a Bird watcher. She lived just around the corner from us and so it was easy to walk or ride my bike to her house and spend the afternoon. She had many bird houses in her yard and kept them full of seed so that there would always be flocks of several kinds of birds at each one. She kept binoculars and a bird watching book in her kitchen, that looked into the backyard, so that these different birds could be identified.

That must have been where I picked it up. I never thought of myself as a "bird watcher" before. It sounds kinda nerdy, but I think a part of me is drawn to it.

On our honeymoon, Brian took me to this quaint little cafe in the middle of nowhere (that was definitely not the highlight, just a stop on the road!). It is known for having the most birdhouses in one place (of all things a cafe should be known for)! All of them are unique and eccentric.

Brian and I lived at the Village in the Riverwoods for a couple of years. Once, we had a Robin build it's nest and raise it's young on one of our beams on our patio. I thought it was so cool. We even filmed them and gave the chicks names!

When we moved to our next place, I turned a bird bath into a bird feeder, and enjoyed all the different kinds of birds that came to visit our patio.

A new tradition Brian started last year is getting me beautiful bird feeders for Mother's Day. I have a start to a wonderful collection of humming bird feeders, and seed-filled feeders.

All of these are just small happenings that, by themselves are insignificant, but have culminated in me a joy for watching birds. My favorite are the hummingbirds. They are most active when the weather is rainy, like today. Here is a picture I was able to snap of two birds perched on my feeder. One is feeding, the other is keeping watch. I just love how tiny these birds are. They are fast, shy, and fun to watch. So unique!

I can't believe these tiny birds fly so far south, being so small! Brian often travels to Mexico, and in humminbird migration season, he says the birds will appear in Mexico, so exausted from their flights across the gulf of Mexico, that they literally fall off the branches from fatigue!

Anyway, with such a long spring we've had, I've looked forward to the hummingbirds return, and have enjoyed watching them outside my window! Joy in the little things!

Disclaimer: Don't worry, this feeder is not one of the beautiful gifts Brian has given me for Mother's Day (those are already at our new house). This was a cheap, but practical feeder from home depot...