When we lived in Tamarac, FL, we had a park nearby in North Lauderdale whose naturalist encouraged me to become a birdwatcher. She was a good influence and shared her knowledge with me. I in turn now would like to share what I have learned with the readers of this blog. Though I doubt that I will ever have the level of “expertise” that she or others who have taught me have, I still desire to encourage others to start enjoying the wonderful and awesome birds around us that the Lord has created.

To become a birdwatcher:

• Slow down and smell the roses. (I mean LOOK around you.) Observe!
• Look at the birds that are common near you. Where? They are in fields, on poles, by ponds, in McDonald’s and Burger King’s parking lot. Don’t forget the trees at Wal-Mart or inside the Lowe’s and Home Depot garden spots.
• Listen! The birds are pretty vocal. They are sometimes melodious (Song Sparrows); “off-key”(Grackles and Crows); mimicking others (Mockingbird and Gray Catbird), chattering (Swallow or Crane); or maybe “mourning” like a Mourning Dove.
• After you find birds to watch, observe them.

How do you observe them? At first, just take note of their:

• Colors
• Size (Tiny, Small, Medium, Large, very Big)
• Sounds
• Their beak (Mouth-for you newbies) is it long, straight, curved, thick, thin, etc?
• Their posture (upright, leaning forward, squatty)
• Wings (long, short, pointed, rounded, etc.)
• Tail (long, short, pointed, forked, fanned, etc.
• What are they doing?

This is enough for now. I just wanted to encourage you to start watching birds and enjoying what is around us in our busy lives. In future postings, I will going into more details.