On the wing

Lately I've become obsessed with birds. I've always loved watching them, but not until I read Molly Beth Griffin's Silhouette of a Sparrow (BRILLIANT, by the way) did I realize that I could actually transform this interest into a pursuit. The lake by my office is home to dozens of bird species, and they visit the maple tree by my desk's window all the time. On Wednesday, I picked up the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of Eastern North America, and on Saturday, I bought a modestly-priced monocular. Already I've found that the little black birds that live in our trees are common grackles, mixed with some red-winged blackbirds and house sparrows. We've got robins and chickadees and mourning doves, and today, Rachel and I took our bikes to Fort Foster so Rachel could bike around and I could look for birds. I didn't have much success in the marsh - the birds there are too well-camouflaged to make out - but I did see some interesting sea birds that I couldn't identify in my book. They were ducks, I think, judging by their shape as they bobbed out in the ocean by the edges of some small islands. One was all black except for a patch of white either around its neck or on the back of its neck and a white stripe on its wings. The feathers on the back of its head came to a point. The other duck I saw was all white except for a black cap and black wing-tips, and maybe a black tail. I couldn't find either of them in my book :\

It's so fun and relaxing to look for them. We took a snack of fruit and cheese and crackers and ate them sitting on a bench, when Rachel got back from her bike ride and I got back from huddling behind some giant rocks on the beach to watch the ducks out of the wind. I have a journal that I'm writing down all of my sitings in, and notes about the birds to help me look them up later. I'm really enjoying it <3