Friday, November 20, 2009

we heart birds

For about two years now our family has been interested in birds. We were first introduced to the wonderful world of birds through one of our homeschooling books- The Burgess Bird Book for Children. This book is a wonderful narrative written by Thornton Burgess told through the eyes of Peter Rabbit in the setting of the Old Orchard, Peter's home.

In each chapter we are introduced to two or three birds and told about their nesting habits, feeding preferences and their interaction with other animals and nature itself.

After each chapter, we color a picture or two of the bird we just learned about and follow up with our favorite bird site for more details, a sample of the birds sound and even some video footage. This site has been an invaluable resource for our journey into learning more about the birds around us.

Every once in a while we'll spy a new bird in our backyard. It usually goes something like this- children or parent spot new bird and start calling everyone in the house in a loud whisper to the window facing our backyard. Everyone runs to the window and nine times out of ten the bird is scared off by the pounding sounds of the house shaking and flies off into the distance never to be seen again (or at least for a few weeks).

BUT... every once in a while we are afforded the opportunity to study a bird for an extended period of time as we all stand, squat and strain patiently and quietly around that one window with the perfect view. And sometimes we even have time to reach for the camera.

Last week was one of those moments. My husband was the one to capture this bird with the camera and really got a few great shots. A new bird!

After consulting with some very bird-savvy friends, this bird has been identified as a Juvenile Cooper's Hawk. Isn't it beautiful?


2 comments:

Jackie said...

that sounds like a very familiar routine...tho' one that has fallen by the wayside for now...i kind of miss it.

Pam said...

We recently spent quite a bit of time at the All About Birds website researching the American Kestrel. It is a wonderful resource for all things birds.