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| Hooded Mergansers, Boardman River. January 2011 |
Bird lovers come in two forms: the avid watchers who devote
hours of time tramping through the woods in search of additions to their life
lists and the rest who are fascinated by these creatures but prefer to observe
them in concert with other interests in life. I lean towards the latter. I have
plenty of bird guides and encyclopedias, but if you were to ask me to identify
a bird flying across my vision, I would be hard pressed to correctly name it outside
than the common species that frequent my yard.
I have often tried to learn more about birds: taken classes
on bird behavior, participated in field trips, made attempts at self study. But
my attention span is short and I quickly lose interest. Even as a wildlife
rehabilitator, I avoided birds on my care list. Baby birds are high maintenance;
their frequent feeding schedule never fit into my work and personal life.
This is not to say that I don’t find birds fascinating. Who doesn’t
appreciate the graceful anatomy of the swan, the rainbow of colors found in the
birds of paradise, the powerful overhead soaring of eagles, the melodic tunes
of the chickadee or the amazing hovering capabilities of the hummingbird? I have
numerous bird feeders and baths in my back yard and spend hundreds of dollars a
year on sunflower seeds, millet and corn. I make my own hummingbird solution
and suet cakes. And at least once or twice a year, I rescue a bird who strikes
my window, treating it for shock and successfully releasing it an hour or two
later.
So why can’t I take this obvious appreciation of birds to
the next level? I struggle to come up with an answer, but can’t. Maybe my brain
is subconsciously telling me that I’m spreading myself too thin and need to
focus my efforts on those animals that hold special meaning to me.
Perhaps I can’t relate my life experiences to them. I can
swim, run, climb trees, do most activities that mammals, reptiles and
amphibians do; but no matter how much I try, I will never fly. I always marveled
at their ability to take off, climbing higher into the sky, riding the air
currents to places unknown.
Instead of fretting about my lack of avian knowledge, I need
to be satisfied with the pure admiration I have for these beautiful creatures. Nature
doesn’t have to be analyzed to be appreciated. I just need to sit back and
enjoy.
