Sharing Birding Contest Honorable Mention
As I’m the only birder in our family, I’ve often wondered what a birding spree would be like with my siblings. Today I found out.
Twelve- and thirteen-year-old Paul Ray and Melvin weren’t interested, but a walk of any kind in the woods always attracts the younger ones. So when we started out the field lane, I had seven siblings with me, ranging from eleven to two years of age. I swallowed my misgivings and decided to enjoy it, no matter what.
We talked animatedly all the way to the woods, enthusiastically pointing out the birds we saw. My siblings made especially sure I did not miss putting any birds they had heard or seen onto the list.
“There goes a Blue Jay!” Jerald yelled.
“I saw a grackle. Did you write grackle down?” Dana asked, taking the note pad from me.
“Barn Swallow!” squealed Amanda.
“What’s that big bird over there?” Katelyn asked.
A peek through the binoculars confirmed my suspicions that it was a Turkey Vulture.
“We should have heard a meadowlark by now,” Jerald said. “I heard millions of them on the way to church this morning!” I had once pointed out a singing meadowlark to Jerald, and apparently he had not forgotten it.
As we neared the woods, I told everyone to hush. This was rather hard for them, but after we were in the woods, they did manage it.
“What’s that bird that sounds like it’s kissing?” Amanda whispered in my ear. She gave a few loud smacks to indicate what she was hearing.
I almost giggled. “You’re hearing a chipmunk, Sis.”
The chipmunk Amanda heard stayed well hidden. He scolded and scolded, along with a dozen others of his kind. We heard a Pileated Woodpecker and searched in vain for him.
A cardinal lighted on the branch in front of us and began to sing. We grabbed the binoculars from each other before anyone had a chance to get a decent look at him. Deeper in the woods, a Song Sparrow sang, and a woodpecker banged on a tree behind us.
We conversed in whispers and relaxed on an old wooden bridge that spanned a trickling creek. Soon little Brenda, who could not understand why we were so quiet, began to cry. Oh, she seemed so loud! I quickly hushed her. Then Jerald was tired of being quiet. “Let’s go back now,” he suggested, “so we can be noisy again.”
I was not nearly done, but the others were getting restless also, so we set our sights toward home. At the end of the field lane there were two fair-sized mud puddles. Since it was a hot day, those of us who weren’t already barefoot shed our shoes, and we all splashed in the puddles. Jerald giggled impishly and planted his foot firmly in the puddle beside me, splashing us with muddy water.
We washed our feet at the hydrant and walked through the barn toward the house. Brenda spotted a new calf.
“There’s a calf, Laura Jane. Did you write calf on the list?” she asked me.
Later that day Melvin accidentally discovered a Northern Rough-winged Swallow and its nest in an overflow pipe in a stone wall around the spring. This bird had puzzled us last year, so we were very pleased with his discovery!