I have heard that inevitably all people as they reach a certain age enter a stage of birdwatching. I would have thought that the “certain age” was probably very late in life, once you have become immobile and really have nothing better to do. However…
Gulls in Croatia
Our apartment in Croatia was on the top floor facing into a courtyard area, and facing another chain of apartment buildings, on the roof of which nested a family of seagulls. The parents came and went, soaring above the rooftops, occasionally returning to regurgitate food into their youngs’ open mouths. While they were away, it was entertaining to watch their two young fledglings clumsily hopping around the roof from one shady spot to the next.
The flat roof had a short raised edge, then a foot or two below that it reached out again to give shade to the balconies below. Eventually, the larger of the young birds was strong enough to hop onto the edge, and one morning we looked out to see that it had fallen or jumped down to the lower section where it was pacing back and forth from one end to the other. Its sibling came to look over the edge at it, then went back to its safe, shady corner. One of its parents came to look over the edge at it, squawked, and then left. I saw it make a couple of unsuccessful attempts to jump and flap its wings, not quite clearing the edge. Eventually it gave up and found a shady spot to sit. It was there all day.
We agonized over its situation but were helpless to do anything about it. The next morning both fledglings were together on the roof again. A few days later we looked out the window and they were both gone, one of the parents pacing the roof and calling out. Did they figure out flying and take off on their own? Did they plummet to their deaths? We have no way of knowing the answer, but I am hoping that it was the former.
Owls in Italy
While in the Dolomite mountains in Italy, one of our hotels had a brochure for a nearby Owl Park which is home to over 100 birds, mostly owls, but also some chickens and parrots. We had to stop by. They have owls from all over the world living there, from the great grey owl to the northern white-faced owl. We happened to be there during feeding time and witnessed the somewhat disturbing feast that took place as the owls tore into and gobbled down their food. Not for the faint of heart.
Birdsong Everywhere
Trevis likes to try and imitate the sounds of some of his favorite birds, such as the three-noted song of the chaffinch, and will even stretch his neck up to the ceiling and squawk loudly like a seagull to get a laugh out of me.
Building a Life List
I found a free app for the phone that allows you to identify birds and keep a log of the ones you have seen. (https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/) When I shared this with Trevis, it quickly became an addiction for him. He now has his eyes and ears tuned for birds, where before they were tuned for sports cars. As we walk down a trail, he will launch the Merlin app and have it start listening for birds, then see if he can find the ones it says it hears. You can also take photos of birds or describe them using a set of multiple choice questions. Combined with your GPS coordinates, the app will suggest possible matches, including its own photos, descriptions, and sound recordings.
It is amazing how many different kinds of birds you will begin to notice outside once you start to look (and listen). We have identified large numbers of birds in New Zealand, of course. We were surprised, though, at the colorful variety of birds we noticed in Kansas, a place I would not have expected to find much more than hawks, robins, and meadowlarks.
The next step in becoming a birdwatcher is to purchase a pair of binoculars, so our seriousness will be tested by whether we are committed enough to sacrifice space and weight in our luggage for that. What strange and unfamiliar species of birds will we find as we continue around the world? How long will this bird-watching phase last, and what obsession will take its place when we actually do become so old that we haven’t got the energy for anything else? Only time will tell.
