Some of the most amazing moments in my life have involved birds. Something as simple as going with my daughter and feeding ducks to scenes that I can never forget and have left me with awe.

One of those times was when we were living in Australia. Our friends invited us to go for a drive along the Great Ocean Road in Victoria. The views from this curvaceous road were amazing. My daughter, just turned one, was getting motion sickness so we pulled over at an over-look area. I couldn’t believe the beautiful sight. We were looking over some forest area. All of a sudden my little girl points towards the trees and I look up in time to see a flock of cockatoos in flight. There were a couple dozen white beings with yellow crested heads flying across the horizon. I could not believe that we were in Australia to begin with and then this! Amazing!

Another moment was here in the United States, in Ohio, to be exact. My daughter, ten at this time, was (still is) into birds of prey. While living in Indiana, we were told of a pair of nesting bald eagles in a small town in Ohio called Florida, just outside another small town called Defiance. We drove the hour from Fort Wayne to Defiance and drove to the area were the nest was. It wasn’t hard to find because there were about four other cars parked and the people were standing around looking towards a tree and pointing. There it was! The largest nest I have ever seen! And on it were the two bald eagles! We weren’t there more than five minutes when the male took flight and circled the nest. Wow! To see my daughter’s favorite raptor was an incredible feeling! We kept watching the male until he was out of sight and then we looked at the nest. The female was there with her two fledglings! What a blessing! Amazing!

A funny moment with a bird involved a seagull. We were at a beach barbecue with some friends. As many of you know, these birds have a keen sense of knowing where there is food and the beach is a great place for them to find something to eat. Well, this time was no exception.

Our friend Ricky was grilling salmon steaks on one side of the grill and hotdogs on the other. He turned his back to the grill for one second and down swoops a gull and carries away a hotdog! All the kids were laughing. Ricky shoos the gulls away and turns his back on the grill once more. Down flies the same gull and this time swipes a salmon steak! Now the adults join in the laughter. But are we laughing at the gull’s cleverness or at Ricky’s misfortune! Amazing!

I have plenty of memories involving birds. From watching a bluejay mom teach her young one to fly in our backyard, to actually seeing a kestral attack a sparrow in mid-flight, to having a Northern flicker wake us up at four in the morning with his “brrrrrrrrrp brrrrrrrrrrrrp, brrrrrrrrrrrrp,” and putting indentations on the vinyl siding of our house.

I love birds. We have two as pets, a cockatiel, Guy, and a canary, Wu. Our backyard is home to cardinals, a woodpecker, bluejays, nuthatches, mourning doves, chicadees, and others. Soon we will have the robins eating worms from our lawn. I look forward to seeing them, especially after a very cold, snowy winter.

Now if someone can let me know if flicker induced holes in vinyl are covered under our home insurance policy!

“I hope you love birds too. It is economical. It saves going to heaven.”
~Emily Dickinson