Nuts About Birds

Today I was looking at a mail order catalog of bedding, and I showed Don a photo of a bedspread and matching pillows that have "19th century drawings of birds." The catalog billed them as sparrows, but they were really orioles and warblers. Don said he liked it and we considered if we wanted to purchase it.

Said Don, "We're nuts for birds, aren't we?... I'm glad we're both nuts that way."

I said, "me too."

Yes, we're nuts for birds 24/7. They're our work and our passion.

The other morning we were sitting looking out at the feeders, drinking coffee and writing our daily bird list in our journal. I wanted to get up for a coffee refill. There were a lot of grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds at the feeders. Don said "don't move now, you might scare the blackbirds and there might be a Rusty Blackbird in with them." Coffee refills are scheduled around the possibility of a Rusty Blackbird.

When we drive in the car, we look at every bird. I say, "I'll look, you drive." I have even tried to use the binos, going 55 mph, to ID a bird. (it's hard to do.)

Binoculars hang on our bedposts and every morning we start birding through the window as soon as we we wake up. Yesterday we saw a Bald Eagle sitting in the tree on the pond.

Right now there are more mealworms than human food in our refrigerator.

Our lives together for over 30 years have revolved around birds: writing about them, teaching about them, talking about them, attracting them, photographing them, planning trips to see them, reporting them, participating in conservation efforts for them, managing our 48 acre property to make a better habitat for them, blogging about them, twittering about them, dreaming about them, etc. etc. Birds brought us together. Earlier in our lives, we were both interested in birds, Lillian had studied raptors, Don had written about bird behavior. We met when Lillian took a course on bird behavior offered by Mass. Audubon Society taught by Don. Since then we've written 32 book on birds and nature (about to be 33 when our national field guide, Stokes Field Guide to Birds of North America, comes out this fall), had our own PBS TV series on birds, have a licensed line of bird feeding products, etc., etc. We're still nuts about birds.

But we're not alone in being nuts about birds. Many of you are also. Care to share any stories?

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