I’ve always been interested in birds.  As youngsters, my sister and I had bird identification contests, little red bird calls, bird houses, and feeders.  Subsequent changes in living arrangements provided fewer or similar opportunities for “bird watching.”  Bird sanctuaries, aviaries, documentary films have all been enjoyed, but never to the extent of our viewing room, and nursery here in Pacific Beach.  Our back patio has large overhanging palms, there are dense foundation plantings, and a high evergreen hedge separating lots.  In addition to other palms in front, a large podocarpus tree is at the front corner of the lot.  Our ten by eight foot front window looks out on the trees, hedge, shrubs, and two feeding stations, a Yankee Droll for seed, and a pair of nectar feeders for hummingbirds.  There is a two foot diameter bird bath between the two, with a small pump-driven bubbler fountain in it.  Beyond the yard we look on various trees, buildings and power lines.

The feeders, bath, trees , shrubs, and power lines are usually filled with birds, who are constant company for Am coffee/newspaper, noontime snack, or after dinner relaxation.  We are able to recognize ” regulars” as well as seasonal and  “only occasional” visitors.  The SoCal climate allows some birds to stay the year around, including some species of hummingbirds.  Crows and red-headed green parrots are around, but don’t visit the feeders/fountain.  The parrots, my wife calls them “gangsta birds,”  are gregarious and noisy.  They fly in flocks of several to a dozen, or so. They rarely pair off.  When in flight, swiftly swooping about trees and buildings,  they chatter constantly.  In trees or on power lines they are usually quiet.  Fruit and nut eaters, they climb up and down the date palms, sometimes head down, sometimes dangling  feet up to feed.  A power line across the street is a frequent resting rest for them.  There is always a curious distribution along the line in that one bird is separated from all the others by a two to three feet, the others within a few inches of each other.  It seems he/she has to take a “time out”for bad behavior.

The seed feeder is a scene of constant activity.   There four perches for eating from the seed resevoir, and a lower tray to collect the spills from the messy eaters.  So six or seven birds can be feeding at a time.  However, some birds cannot share, and spend more time chasing others way than feeding.  Female finches seem most argumentative, followed by female sparrows.  There are many nesting sites in the area, thus the designation “nursery   area.”  The fledglings gather on the lip of the birdbath, or tray edge and peep constantly.  Adults hop over and disgorge seed into the youngsters mouths, the peeping ceases for at least thirty seconds.  For some reason, many of them then turn, step into water, poop,  and proceed to splatter water far and wide, especially on the glass window suface, the white  streaks, when dry, are clearly visible from our living room viewing area.  There my be four or five in the water at once,  a communal bath for chubby little birds.

Early one weekend morning, wife (she still desires anonymity) heard cconstant  peeping from the walkway east of the house.  A quick investigation did not reveal the source.  However, the peeping persisted, and lead to nested pottery containers, quite large stood next to the house.  It wasn’t until Wife started to remove the top container that she discovered Chubs, a finch fledgling in the very bottom tub of the stack.  By now he was quiet and trembling.  Wife slowly tipped the container on it’s side and left the area.  Chubs found his way out, not really able to fly, but sheltered in the shrubs and encouraged by his parents, he found his way to safety.  Chubs made many subsequent visits to the feeder tray for sustenance, “beak” fed from his parents, and later sprayed the front window joyfully with water from the fountain.  We cannot recognize him anymore as an adult. But we are sure he stays away from the pots.

What joy, to be able to observe these tiny creatures.  Speaking of tiny creatures, hummingbirds are REALLY small.  They buzz around the flowers and shrubs at amazing speed, constantly alert for the arrival of rival feeders.  Though we have two feeders for them, rarely is there more than one bird there.  A feeding bird will chase away any others until he or she has satisfied his thirst/ hunger.  They feed almost exclusively on nectar, catching insects only to feed their growing young , more protein.

Well, more about birds, later.  Wife tells me my posts are a little long.