If you do keep your eyes out for all the birds and your ears open, it is amazing! When I was a kid there were next to no hawks around, and many other birds were harder to see.
In the past week I have noticed 4 very cool birds!
- I was driving in the valley and saw a crane gliding gently down, at first I did not know what it was, then I saw the long neck and he flew a bit closer to me and it was clear, and he was so elegant!
- This Saturday we were out in the field and saw two Killdeers in one of our fields, walking around in circles. I know what they were doing! Looking for a place for their nest. We will be tilling that area soon, and that should diswaid them from nesting in our field. We have previously had them lay their eggs right in the middle of a field, so we spent a couple months not touching the area close to the nest, but it is so funny if you get close when they have chicks, because they will flop around on the ground and look hurt. The first time I saw them do that I told hubby (then boyfriend) "Come quick, this bird is hurt, lets try to get it!" He laughed at me for being such a city girl! They like nesting in the fields because the color of the ground helps camouflage them, but I don't think that would be a good place for a nest because of my third bird...
- There is a large hawk of some kind hanging around. We have seen him a few times, but never close enough to see what he is, except for VERY BIG! Yesterday I heard the chickens squawk and as I turned my head they were all running into the coop... I saw this guy flying away! Thankfully our chickens are to big for a hawk to get, but the new chicks will need a cover when they first go out (note to self!) The chickens kept squawking for a long time, enough that I went inside to make sure no one was hurt, no one was, but they were annoyed that they had to be inside... (It is funny they run inside whenever they see a shadow pass over, like a low flying plane or the Goodyear blimp...)
- My final bird story in the past week, not as pleasant, but pretty cool, I saw a group of maybe 10 vultures together on the ground... I did not see (nor did I want to) what they were doing, but I was pretty close, and it was amazing how large they were!
I guess my point is that we have made some progress since the first Earth day. The birds are back, we no longer have silent springs, our water is cleaner (at least the Cuyahoga), and organic farmers are no longer fringy weirdo's but something more respectable (I hope!)
There is so far still to go, but we are making progress, step by step and day by day!
