The nerd who likes birds

If, twenty years ago, you had told me that I'd be one of those nerdy, geeky, bird watchers, I'd have laughed at you. Maybe even slugged you for insulting me. But gosh darn it, I am one now. Of course I know why...my parents were bird watchers -- my father, at 81, still gets out and hikes through the hills with camera, binoculars, and spotting scope gear. Of course this ties back to an earlier post ... a person can grow up to appreciate something if exposed to it as a child.

So today I am standing at the sliding glass door, looking out over my yard as my children slurp down their breakfasts (breakfast is usually an interesting time in our house as the meal is often peppered with comments such as: "I know why the Indians don't like us very much" and "Did you know that some dinosaurs were only as big as our cat? Maybe Ice [the cat] is like our own dinosaur"), and I am giddy with excitement. "Guys, come here!" I say. I ask one of them to fetch my binoculars, and another to get mom. There is a pair of bluebirds going in and out of the bluebird house that we put up three weeks ago. Bluebirds. That's exciting to a bird nerd! What's more, the bluebirds are fending off a group of tree swallows who had been poking around the box for the last week.

Then, as I'm watching the aerial display, a bright orange and black oriole swoops in to my porch railing. He's looking for the cup of jelly that he feasted on last season. It is the first oriole of the season. Last year we had as many as ten at one time, eating jelly like pre-schoolers on a field trip.

Okay, so I'm a bit of a nerd ... I can identify a bunch of different birds, and know something of their habitats and eating preferences. I'm still not as much a bird nerd as my brother -- that guy's nuts.