Kerfuffle-to-Go: OMG, NEW YARD BIRDIE!

Sunday, January 26, 2014

OMG, NEW YARD BIRDIE!

Garden grade House Wren
still absent from my yard list

Long ago, not-so-far away, I spotted a few feathers in my back yard. They were from a wren - I assumed was a House Wren. Poor bird - knew it was most likely nabbed & eaten by my now long gone, cat Rum-kitty. More than a decade later, I still keep those feathers safely stowed away.

A year ago, I spotted another wren, not a House Wren, but a Bewick's. That is pronounced 'Buick' like the car. The little bird was in an oak above my garage by my front yard. Ecstasy! A new species that brought my Yard List numbers up to 46; that is, 46 species seen in, or in eyesight of my home. Yes, yes, I'm a birder, and ticking off birds is what I do best.

A week ago looking out my living room picture window, my eyes nearly popped out of my head. I spotted a little Bewick's Wren hopping about by the rosemary shrub, on the hunt for bugs. I flipped! My camera barely 5 feet away, & I grabbed it but alas! The adorable little $%* was already gone; major bummer.

Now, 3 days ago - yes, this is a count down - I drove out my garage, and spotted suspicious little birds flying from my neighbor's tree. Stopped the car, grabbed the binocs to see the solitary tiny Bewick's digging in leaf litter just outside my neighbor's front door. Am pleased my neighbor didn't spot me with binoculars aimed at my his front door.

This morning - in a less than stellar mood - I happened to glance out the window, and there, literally 5 feet from me, was the Bewick's Wren! I raced into the garage & found my camera in my car. Miracle of miracles, when I returned, the bird was still hyper-actively bustling about, allowing me to get something like a hundred shots of it. Oooo how I love my new, eensie, nattily feathered neighbor!