Life is for the birds ~ July 6, 2005

David Heiller

A bird flew out of a round cedar on the north side of the house about a month ago. That made me curious, so I pulled back some branches on the shrub and saw a tiny nest with four blue eggs.

The cedar is only about three feet high. That seemed like an odd place for a bird to build a nest. But it was well hidden by the branches of the tree.

The photo, of the nest and the hungry
chick, copied from the paper.

The nest became a wonderful little science project. I showed it to my grand-niece when she came for a visit from Texas, but I was just as fascinated. One day I discovered a baby bird had hatched. I expected the other three to quickly follow, but that didn’t happen, just one of the four made it. Life is cheap when you are a bird.

It was amazing how fast that one bird grew. It went from a little blob the size of my fingernail to a thing that seemed to be all mouth, to a fledged out bird, all in about two weeks!

My daughter and I checked the nest on June 26, and the little bird hopped onto the ground. It didn’t seem quite ready to fly, so we put it back in to the nest. When I checked it three days later, leaving the nest and its three little eggs. I’m going to give it to some kids I know. (It is good to have kids to give stuff like this to.)

And finally I was able to identify the parent bird as a chipping sparrow. I took out a bird book and read that they prefer just such spots. They like to use hair in their nests too, and this nest had plenty of hair. Most of it looked like it came from our dog Riley, who leaves big patches of his yellow winter coat on the ground in the spring.

Birds add a lot to our lives. We have two hummingbird feeders, and sometimes have seven or eight birds will zoom in for their sweet supper. It kind of .scary when we sit on the deck, but no one has been hit yet.

Orioles take the grape jelly we give them. Finches, chickadees, and sparrows devour the sunflower seeds. Woodpeckers drop in on occasion.

The garage and barn are full of-swallows. At least three bluebird houses are occupied. Pigeons roost in the top of the silo, cooing down its 60-foot length, (It’s an eerie sound.) There’s a robin’s nest under the deck.

Noah patiently feeding chickadees, by hand.

We wake up at 5:30 to the chirping of birds, and if we are lucky, a whippoorwill will lull us to sleep at night.

I really don’t know much about birds, but I know this much: they add a lot of value to my life, and I’m sure I speak for many others when say that.

I’ll also tip my hat to people like Fred Lesher, who I wrote about a couple weeks ago. He’s one if those dreaded “bird watchers.” We need people like him to keep tabs on birds that aren’t as commonplace as those I’ve mentioned here.

Fred believes we live in a bird heaven here in Houston County, and from my limited experience, I have to agree. Birds are everywhere.

One thing that I found interesting, and upsetting, at the river refuge meeting that I attended on June 23 was the disdain that the people in my group had for “bird watchers.”

It came up least three times. We can’t be protecting the river for bird watchers (spoken with scorn). This wouldn’t be a good area for bird watchers (sarcastic tone), because it is too close to a hunting area. That kind of thing.

It seems to me there should be room for bird watchers and bird hunters to live side by side without put-downs. The two groups are close cousins in many ways. They both know and respect the animal, its habitat, range, calls, and personalities.