Going to the Birds

My son is obsessed with Birds of Virginia, one of the field guides we keep around the house to identify the birds at our feeders. He takes it with him upstairs and tries to have us read it to him as he’s going to sleep; he points to the cardinal on the cover and then points outside, saying “ka-ka-ka”.

It’s really quite unnerving how interested in things he becomes.

Anyhow, it should really come as no surprise that we have to tell him all about the birds that are outside, which in turn causes both me and Merrystar to up our bird-spotting game. So, seen at the feeder this week:

• A big flock of red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) and common grackles (Quiscalus quiscula) muscled aside the normal complement of finches and juncos on Wednesday, when the snow started here in Williamsburg. Blackbirds are, of course, one of the first heralds of spring. They also ate all my sunflower seeds.

• There’s this one brown thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) who comes along every few days and joins the dark-eyed juncos (Junco hyemalis) in picking through the seeds on the ground. He’s a funny bird; Trip does a great impression of him, bobbing his head up and down.

• Speaking of my son’s bird impressions, he started patting the back of his head when Merrystar mentioned a woodpecker. That’s because there’s a female red-bellied woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) who’s joined the finch-nuthatch-junco flock with a prominent red neck and head. (The top of her head is gray; that’s how we know she’s a she.) Merrystar and I were both more than a little surprised at this.

• Merrystar has probably the best sighting of the week: a Carolina wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus). I hope it’ll be back tomorrow; I have new seed to put out.

And flying right outside my office window, two sightings for me this week:

• A red-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus) buzzed by today. I’ve seen this one on three different days this week; he caught a mouse near the road while I was IMing with the home office, perched in one of the trees while Trip and I finished breakfast, and flew across the backyard at second-storey height this afternoon. The white with black spots makes this one easier to identify than some of the other raptors who have been by for a visit.

• A turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) scared the living bejabbers out of me on Wednesday when he flew right past my window, banking to show me what a 5-6 foot wingspan is really like. I’m lucky I was muted on my conference call. Holy crikey, let’s not do that again!

So that’s the birdwatching report for this week. No doubt I’ll wake up to calls of “dada, ka-ka-ka-ka” tomorrow morning and a toddler who insists upon feeding the birds before getting dressed. In the freezing cold.

I really do love that little boy.