Bird Fascination

Bird watching is a relatively new activity for me and I am fascinated by it. I watch the birds outside our windows. I read about them and study their pictures. I discuss them with Aunt Martha. I fret when they are absent from our feeder. I even dream about them. Despite all of that, they remain an enigma to me because they seem to be full of contradictions.

When I assumed that we are the cold place that birds migrate from in the winter, I learn the junco migrates to here to be warm for the winter. When I thought the cardinal is the one bird that the whole family could identify because of its color and crest, I find one with no crest. (Apparently, they can raise and lower their crest at will.) When I generalized that all of the birds that eat upside down on our suet are woodpeckers, I see a white-breasted nuthatch that is doing the same thing. And the list goes on and on. 

Slowly, but surely, I am learning about our fine feathered friends, but in this case, the saying, "The more you know, the less you understand,” certainly applies.

 Good resources for bird information:
--All about Birds from Cornell University
--Aunt Martha