Twitterpated!

When we moved out here, I set up our bird feeders next to a giant Rose of Sharon bush, across the driveway from the kitchen window. I can see all the activity at the feeders while I'm puttering in the kitchen, and when I whip out the binoculars to look more closely, I have the added bonus of appearing to be spying on the neighbors.

Up until recently, I've thought of the birds at the feeders in these basic groups: Robins, Jays, Woodpeckers, Little Brown Generic Birds, Starlings, and Random Other Things I Don't See Often. However, in the last couple of years, my father has become a more and more avid birder, so he has also become my go-to-guy for all things avian. For example, a conversation a few days ago went like this:

"Hi Dad? Yeah, what looks like a robin, but isn't? Yeah, I know that sounds like the setup to a joke. No, I'm serious. It's got red eyes and a speckly back, but it's the size and shape of a robin, with the same movements."

"It's a Towhee. Used to be called a Rufous Sided Towhee, but is now called a Speckled Towhee."

"Okay, thanks. Just saw one under the feeder."

"Remind me to get you a bird book."


So, true to his suggestion, he bought me a copy of The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America. And this morning, I sat out by my dining room window with my binoculars and my book, and watched birds for half an hour.

In that time, I spotted:

A mated pair of American Goldfinches

A metric ton of Pine Siskins of both genders

The nesting pair of White Crowned Sparrows we have living in our birdhouse

A couple of solo Black Capped Chickadees

An American Robin

Several House Sparrows

A Scrub Jay

A pair of European Starlings

My bud the Spotted Towhee

A pair of House Finches (an Old World finch, and the little buggers that get all poofed up and shiver over the warm driveway periodically.)

A Brown Headed Cowbird

A Mourning Dove

A Steller's Jay (whose hairdo was all flopped over and droopy in the rain)

A Downy Woodpecker

I suspect part of this whole countrification thing is going to include learning about the houses that various birds prefer, in an effort to entice more of them to nest on the property. Next year I'm hoping to attract the Tree Swallows by hanging a house up much higher; my boss has one hanging way up ridiculously high above the shop, and it's occupied every year.

Yay for Avian Diversity!