I always frowned upon birdwatchers. I figured bird watching was a pastime of old ladies dressed in lavender, smelling of menthol and peering through opera glasses.

Everything changed one day when my son built a bird feeding platform right outside the window by our kitchen table. The platform is up about eight feet off the ground and it is about ten square feet. He dumped 25 pounds of birdseed in it and we all sat back and waited.

The next morning I counted over 50 birds out there happily stuffing themselves with gusto while chirping madly away. Right then I became one of the 45 million birdwatchers in America.

What challenged me immediately was the task of identifying all of these different kinds of feathered friends.

There are several kinds of sparrows, an assortment of finches. bluebirds, stellar blue jays and several kinds of chickadees. Added to this is one cocky little titmouse that chases after the blue jays with a vengeance far beyond its size. It has a kind of tufted hat Napoleon might have worn and so we named him Napoleon and he struts about every morning shooing the blue jays away.

Occasionally  there are times of real excitement when a special bird shows up. That bird right now is a Rufous Sided Towhee. This beautiful bird is brightly colored with rust colored sides, a black tail and brown wings. It’s most outstanding feature is it’s scarlet red eye that stares at you unblinking. 

There are other rare ones that occasionally land on our bird feeder which is why I have become an avid birdwatcher.