The National Audubon Society has gone to the birds!
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More specifically for those who are not in the know, the Audubon Society is all about bird watching.
The National Audubon Society was officially formed in 1905 and gets it’s name “in honor of John James Audubon, a Franco-American ornithologist and naturalist who painted, cataloged, and described the birds of North America in his famous book Birds of America.”
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As a casual bird watching enthusiast, I have always wondered why it was called “Audubon” and now I know.
My love of looking at birds didn’t start at a young age.
In fact, my first memorable experience with fowl were the times we would feed the geese old leftover bread at a pond somewhere in Indiana when I was about 4 years old.
The reason I remember this so vividly is that one goose took it upon itself to bite my small fingers.
Ouch!
Pain sticks with you I guess.
The start of my seriously casual birdwatching began about 5 years ago.
I was living in an apartment on the second floor that had a small outdoor patio area.
Behind the apartment property was pasture with a tree line break on the fence line.
These trees were the homes of several flying friends.
The usual suspects of North Texas made their appearance there, but also a speck of blue had caught my eye.
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The Blue Jay was the first Non-Chickadee type bird that I noticed.
Soon enough there came the bright eye catching red.
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Not long after I noticed his counterpart!
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The fun, or funny thing, I found was a website with Cardinal sounds, which when played, attracted the birds to the area.
It worked best to play the female sounds and see all the males respond!
Kinda like some other species we know…
Eventually, I found a small bird feeder that I was able to hang and keep full from time to time.
The amount of birds nearby made sure it didn’t stay full for long.
That and the squirrels.
I hate squirrels!
At my other place of living we again had a green space behind our fence line and again saw the usual suspects.
Now, we have moved again, and this time we have a fair number of trees on our property ranging from small to large.
In our new front yard we have a small tree that I noticed was the home of a bird’s nest.
I put my wife on my shoulders and handed her my phone to snap these pics!
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We made sure not to linger nor to touch.
And so my love of the birds continues.
Even if I can’t spell ornithology without looking it up first…
What do you love about birds? Or what tips do you have for new bird watchers?
What is your favorite bird you’ve seen or hope to one day see?
Thanks!
Stay tuned. Stay interesting. Stay Strange.
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