Birding explained

 

I thought it might help, while I am posting about all these birding adventures half of our family is having, to share this past post I wrote about birding. 

Also, a fun video:

 

Moving a car to TN from Portland: Day 1

It’s quite exciting! John and Abigail and Sidge are taking a cross-country trip together. John’s sister, Katie, and her husband, Eddie, and their new baby boy (Rusty) are moving to TN in just a few weeks. They have purchased a property that borders our farm at the top of the ridge, and we are so excited to have them join our community here. 

However, Eddie and Katie needed someone to drive one of their vehicles out here. After a lot of discussion, we decided that John would take the two birders. I would stay here with the two non-birders. (The car wasn’t big enough for all of us to go, and to be honest, staying home with my other two sounded very appealing.)

I am in awe of what an amazing day I’ve had here with just two kids — in particular Isaac and Hannah, who, for whatever reason, never fight with each other. 

I’ll be posting more pictures. Later, when they get back, I’ll have them help me label the photos. But these bird pictures were all taken by someone 13 or under!

Golden-Crowned Sparrow (Sidge)

Wood Duck (Abigail)

Stellar's Jay (Sidge)

Anna's Hummingbird (Abigail)

Chestnut-Backed Chickadee (Sidge)

California Scrub-Jay (Abigail)

Birding

Our Uncle Keith (my brother) and his wife AD (but let's get real -- we know who buys the presents every year) picked out this shirt for our Sidge for Christmas. I LOVE IT! 

I love that my Sidge finished SECOND in Greene County for birds spotted in the county. It may seem like a small thing, but it's a huge thing to Sidge. His fascination and love of all things natural are so fun to watch -- especially because he majorly gets that aspect of himself from his Dad. 

(As a sidenote: Sidge has my pallet for sure. We love ALL the same foods. The first time I let him try Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Therapy I warned him that it would ruin "regular" chocolate ice cream for him forever. I was right.)

 

Spotting a new bird

 

From John: "Got some great looks at a Blue Morph Snow Goose today. First one for my kids and me."

Greene County

East Tennessee

Getting a bird to eat out of your hand

I am going to be documenting Sidge's journey to getting-a-bird-to-eat-out-of-his-hand. Stay tuned for updates and pictures.

Pre-Trip Day 1

Pre-trip, rushing over to Dollar Store for some Sunglasses for the kiddos for the trip, and we spotted a Bald Eagle eating some carrion on the side of the road. This is pretty unusual for our neck of the woods -- only the second time we've ever seen a Bald Eagle here in TN and first time we've gotten a picture!

Sidge's

Sidge

Sidge

Abigail

Abigail

A story about ... birds

If you aren't a birder, you can't understand the obsession with birding. But I will try to put you into the birding mindset through this post. 

(Trust me. If Wendi-the-non-birder is writing it, you will find it enjoyable even if you barely know what a bird is.)

I am married to someone who loves birds. And I am a mother to two kids who love birds. (My other two children join me in the non-birding camp making us a 50/50 family. Although my husband is still hopeful he can sway our seven-year-old little girl over to the dark side.)

Birding is a culture. It's a wonderful community of people that meet online  and in person to see birds. It's a whole underground network of flying nature.

If you are interested in learning more, I suggest the book: The Big Year or if you aren't a reader, try the movie which stars a legendary cast of Owen Wilson, Jack Black, and Steve Martin. It's a fun movie and will teach you plenty about the culture.

On Friday evening, John started talking with our two mini-birders about two interesting birds. They were the 

1. Bullock's Oriole

and the 

2. White-Throated Swift

JB and our two bird-lovers: Sidge (age 12 next week!) and Abigail (age 9) have a few birding goals. 

1. See as many different birds in Greene County that they can.

2. See as many different birds within the state of TN that they can.

3. See birds anywhere in the USA that they can.

(A side note, while JB most likes to just see the birds, my kids love to photograph them.)

They aren't in a hurry to see all the normal TN birds. But all of a sudden, they got an alert (Yes! There are pages online that alert you to these things!) that there were two birds in Chattanooga, TN that are very unusual to the State. 

The Bullock's Oriole hadn't been reported within the TN border in 25 years! And the White-Throated Swift has only been recorded East of the Mississippi three times ... EVER.

And suddenly, both birds were just 2.5 hours away from our home in Bulls Gap/Greeneville within 9 minutes of each other. It would be one thing if they had been spotted in Western, TN. That's too far to drive (as you can see on the map below). Tennessee is a long, wide State. But Chattanooga .... that's not far at all from us!

However, our weekend was packed with ballet. So John and Abigail and Sidge sat around talking about how cool it would be if they could see those birds but not seriously entertaining the idea. They had been spotted regularly, in the same spot, over multiple days. One of them was on a pond. The other was in a woman's backyard. She had made it easy for people to park, walk into her yard, and see the bird! So they were sort of just pow-wow-ing about how cool it would be ... but not thinking they could do it. 

Enter their amazingly-cool-but totally-clueless-about-birding Mama. She pulls John outside for a pow-wow and says: "Why don't you go see the birds?"

It isn't easy to surprise/shock/excite John Kitsteiner. He's an even-keeled guy who makes a living staying calm (or pretending to on the outside even when he feels very uncalm.) 

But his face was totally bewildered.

(And I love bewildering him!)

I could take some liberties and tell you that he said: "This may be the nicest thing you have ever said to me." However, while he didn't really say that, his face definitely indicated that is how I had made him feel. 

Was this his not-interested-in-birds-wife who is feeling very post-COVID-worn-out telling him to drive five hours round trip to see two birds?!

(It was. Major Brownie Points for me.)

We figured it out. If they left right after ballet practice on Saturday evening, they could drive down, grab a hotel, wake up, see the birds, and drive back in time for the Sunday ballet rehearsal. (Extra points to the ballet director who figure out how to get them out of rehearsal a little earlier so buy them some extra time.)

In the end, they got to see the Bullock's Oriole but did not find the Swift. However, they managed to score another rare bird thanks to some birders who filled them in on a Pacific Loon hanging out not far away.

While I may never understand birds, I certainly can appreciate the looks on my kids' faces detailing their adventures. I especially love that JB said I must come with them sometime just to see Abigail, our shy little girl, turn into a totally different kid when surrounded by other people who get birds like she does. John said she talks unencumbered and simply is blooming in her element. (Normally, Abigail does not speak to people she does not know, like, ever ...) 

And Sidge, on our way to ballet practice, could not stop GLOWING as he showed me photos and told me about each bird he saw and ignored my ignorant questions ...

I love their passion.

Even if I don't really love birds.

Brown Creeper via Sidge

 

The camouflage this bird has is amazing!

Finally recovered enough from COVID to get out into the woods again and go birding on our farm here in East Tennessee (Greene County).

My 11-year-old son took these photos of a Brown Creeper (Certhia americana).

From Wikipedia:

Also known as the American treecreeper, it is a small songbird, the only North American member of the treecreeper family Certhiidae.

Adults are brown on the upper parts with light spotting, resembling a piece of tree bark, with white underparts. They have a long thin bill with a slight downward curve and a long stiff tail used for support as the bird creeps upwards.

They forage on tree trunks and branches, typically spiraling upwards from the bottom of a tree trunk, and then flying down to the bottom of another tree. They creep slowly with their body flattened against the bark, probing with their beak for insects. They will rarely feed on the ground. They mainly eat small arthropods found in the bark, but sometimes they will eat seeds in winter.

Farm Bird #120: Purple Finch

 

Farm Bird #120: Purple Finch

Greene County 

 

East Tennessee

 

After 8 months of dealing with COVID on the frontlines in the emergency department, I finally caught it. I’m on day 3-4, and I’m doing okay.

 

This morning, along with a new snow, my wife and kids started to develop symptoms as well.

But the birds don’t stop just because humans have a pandemic!

 

My 9-year-old daughter, who is definitely not feeling well, still came running into my bedroom this morning with the camera.

 

“I think there’s a Purple Finch on the bird feeder!”

 

Well, none of us have ever seen a Purple Finch before. For me, it’s one of the birds I “should” have seen years ago, but it keeps eluding me.

 

And none of the kids have seen one either, but my 9-year-old daughter spends hours pouring through field guides.

 

I ambled over to the kitchen window, and sure enough, two beautiful Purple Finches on the bird feeder!

The Purple Finch is the 120th different species of bird that we’ve seen on our farm.

 

AllAboutBirds.com states, “The Purple Finch is the bird that Roger Tory Peterson famously described as a “sparrow dipped in raspberry juice.” For many of us, they’re irregular winter visitors to our feeders, although these chunky, big-beaked finches do breed in northern North America and the West Coast. Separating them from House Finches requires a careful look, but the reward is a delicately colored, cleaner version of that red finch.”

Female Northern Harrier

Study of a hunting female Northern Harrier. All photos by my 9-year-daughter, Abigail on Thanksgiving morning. She will wait patiently for hours, literally, waiting for the perfect shot!

Birds on the Ceiling

Parenthood.

It's what I do.

And it is hard. 

Each season seems the hardest. 

New babies? Yikes. Lack of sleep. Toddlers? Ugh. So many butts to wipe. Little kids? Injuries and exhaustion. And now ... I'm creeping in on teenagers.

The emotions are getting 

D

E

E

P

around these parts. Our little Abigail has been battling at bedtime some pretty difficult anxiety and worries. John has been helping her through it, but I pasted these stickers up on her ceiling, and they have really helped her as she tries to fall asleep at night.

We take one day at a time. 

The other day I counted 37 questions in 41 minutes.

But I like to be thankful that they still talk to me. And rely on me. And ask for my advice. 

Abigail LOVES birds. Like is OBSESSED by them. She found out about ornithologists the other day and her world was rocked. She can get a job with birds! She was quick to say: "I want to make sure I can like, DO the things. I don't want to just be in charge of other people doing the stuff with the birds. I want to do the things too."

In the meantime, she has started her own little Blog. It really wasn't designed for public consumption. It was designed for her to organize her bird thoughts and dreams and pictures. But I wanted to share it for those of you who need to remember: find your passion! LITTLE BIRDER BLOG

Birding (From the Wife's Perspective)

John as a child

I met John when I was 9. We started dating when I was 16. We married at 21. 

I always knew he loved animals. But while he will still tell you his love encompasses all nature and all animals, he and BIRDS have a special connection. 

BIRDS.

I am not sure if there is another animal that has seen its name become a different kind of noun. If you like monkeys there really isn't a word for you. You aren't a MONKEY-ER. Even dogs -- probably the most popular animal ever don't have one word to describe people obsessed with them. If you like them, you are a DOG-LOVER which  is still two words squished together to show the intensity of the relationship. 

But the word BIRD has it's own word. You are a: 

BIRDER. A bird-watcher. And you go ... 

BIRDING. Which is to observe BIRDS in their natural habitat as a hobby.

I first realized my husband liked BIRDS when he decided to get a lovebird. We named "him" Chaucer. (We thought Chaucer was a boy but discovered late in "his" life that he was a girl.)

Chaucer and Twain (also accidentally a she). 

Chaucer loved John. Before we got him/her a mate, he/she paired with John. John taught that bird "Step up." That meant that John was in charge, and Chaucer should step onto John's finger. And while lovebirds don't traditionally speak, that bird learned to say "Step up." And she would say it to ME when I walked into the room. She'd tell ME to step-up in order to tell me that she was in charge of me.

And then she'd bite me.

That's where my relationship with birds began. Getting bit by a lovebird who saw herself (himself?) above me on the pecking order.

Literally.

In 2007, we went on a mission trip to Nigeria with three friends. We spent two weeks traveling South Africa and finished our trip on a Safari at Krueger. 

I think it was on this trip that my husband's love for birds materialized in front of my eyes. At one point, my friend Tara said to him in a statement that has since been retold more times than I can count: "John! Can you please start prefacing all your Look Guys! statements with whether we are going to see a BIRD or a mammal?"

He would say: "Look Guys!" and we would turn expecting to see a rhino or a giraffe only to have him tell us to look deep into a tree at a tiny little BIRD. Here is a link to a post he wrote detailing all the birds we saw during our time in South Africa for those of you who are reading this because you, too, share his fascination with BIRDS. 

(If you don't share the fascination, visiting the link will only bring you a few seconds of interest.)

One of the BIRDS JB got a picture of on our trip to Africa. 

My husband continued with his BIRD fascination intermittently after our Africa trip. However, ever since we have settled down on our farm here in East Tennessee in 2015, he has become an actual, bonafide BIRDER. 

I'll be frank. In the beginning, I truly did not GET BIRDING whatsoever. Even today, while I have learned to "get it", deep down, I still don't quite understand the fascination. I love my husband (A LOT!) We are best friends and enjoy doing things together. And I tried to do BIRDS with him. I really did. But I just couldn't get into them. 

If I am being completely frank, I honestly thought, at first, that he was a little odd for his intense fascination with BIRDS. 

But then John got me this book:

While it didn't make me want to become a BIRDER  this book was a great read and incredibly eye-opening. Even if you have zero interest in BIRDS, I think you'd enjoy this book. It also really helped me understand that BIRDING is actually a "thing." People are really, really into this. (John is not an anomaly! At least not when it comes to BIRDS.) 

I followed up the book with the movie. While quite different, it was really entertaining, and I recommend it as well.

The first time I physically met other BIRDERS was on our 20th anniversary trip to Maine in 2019. My husband did an amazing job setting up a trip where he could BIRD and I could relax and we could still spend a lot of time together. He'd get up early and BIRD while I would sleep in or get a massage or have breakfast in bed or just sit in a hammock and read. And by the time I was getting a little stir-crazy, he'd be home for the day, filled to the brim with BIRDS.

On Day 3 of our trip, we went on a whale watching / Puffin adventure. While on that trip, we met a Swedish father and his nineteen-year-old son. They had huge cameras and other cumbersome birding equipment. They were having so much fun together ... looking at birds. The man told us that his daughter had no interest in sharing his hobby. But that he and his son loved traveling together looking at BIRDS.

When we got back to our hotel room, John penned this Facebook post:

While I didn't become a BIRDER on our trip to Maine, my understanding of my husband and his hobby took another step forward during that week in that beautiful State.

At one point, I joined him in Arcadia National Park for a hike. I love being outside. I love nature. But I can get a little bored with too many BIRDS. So I learned to carry a novel. I would just find a good place to sit when the birding got intense and wait for JB to swing back through and move me onto the next spot. 

I met so many other birders on that trip. And they'd stop me and say: "Are you the person who carries the BIRDING book?" 

And I'd hold up my novel and say: "No, I'm the one who reads while he BIRDS."

(Yeah, you can even say I BIRD. You don't have to say you are a BIRDER or you go BIRDING. You can actually just say: "I want to go BIRD" and it is perfectly acceptable.)

Despite all of this learning about the hobby, I never have gotten into it. My oldest son, Isaac, enjoys BIRDS but he, like me, has many other things he'd rather be doing.

However, child #2 and child #3 have become fantatics. Already. And they are currently just 8 and 11. 

Honestly, I will roll over in bed and see a flash of someone running by my bedroom window and discover that one of them is already awake, camera in hand, heading out to BIRD. 

Both of them, if I clear their schedule for the day, can easily spend upwards of three hours a day outside, camera around their neck ... BIRDING. In fact, one camera wasn't enough and we managed to secure a second camera so that they could both be out at the same time.

And here's the truth: while I am not a BIRDER and I never will be, I absolutely LOVE that my children have found a passion they can share with their father. 

I love nature.

I love my husband.

I love my kids.

And I love this thing that they can share together.

And while they share it ...

I will read my novel.

Or get a massage.

P.S. Edited to add: here's a video sharing how our family is split down the middle when it comes to BIRDS."