Birds and Grandma

We had a lovely break in the weather yesterday (sunny and in the 40s!), so we decided to go for a hike. I brought my camera, but forgot to take pictures since we took R.’s family’s dogs with us.

It was nice to get out and move… I haven’t done that in a long while. I’m a bit sore today, but that’s good, right?

I’m not much of a bird person. When I was very young, my Grandma had a birdfeeder out in her yard. She lived in a very rural area amidst woods, creeks, and farms, so the birdfeeder was almost always full. We would sit at the window and watch the birds eat, and she would tell me what each bird was, or I would get out her bird books like A Field Guide to the Birds: Of Eastern and Central North America and figure out which birds were feeding.

I have since forgotten most of the birds. I can still identify the easy ones, Blue Jay, Bluebird, Robin, Cardinal, Woodpecker and I still remember names like nuthatch, sparrow, and finch. I could recognize the call of a bobwhite or a whippoorwill. But, most of my bird knowledge has gone by the wayside.

Yesterday, though, I remembered those winter afternoons sitting on the window seat next to my Grandma watching the birds at their nest. We saw plenty of birds. On our drive out to pick up the dogs, we saw 4 large bald eagles in an open field. It seemed odd and out of place, but I suppose we were only 4 or 5 miles from the Missouri River (by road). I heard two woodpeckers, though never got a look to see what kind. And, all the sudden my mind has gone blank on the two other kinds we saw on our hike.

I’d kind of like to get a birdfeeder someday, and sit with my children and learn the names of the birds from a worn, old bird guidebook. I suppose that has more to do with my Grandmother than the birds, but I think that’s one of the best ways we can instill a love for nature on our children or grandchildren—spend time with them in nature, teach them about nature, show our own love for nature and the beauty of what we have. By making those connections about people as much as about animals and plants, I think it makes a much more powerful mark.