One of the things I love most about Michigan is the birds. Yeah, that sounds a bit silly, because I wouldn't ever have thought of myself as someone to get too worked up over birds, but there you have it: I like 'em. (This is also a commentary about my general feelings about living in Michigan: it's not that different! There is no major adjustment; as such, minor things like birds can move their way high up the list of good things about Michigan.) For my western dwelling friends, I'd like to introduce you to my favorite two birds.
Like 14 states have the cardinal as their state bird, which is totally unoriginal, but I can see why. (For the record, Michigan's state bird is the robin.) Cardinals are strikingly red. I love seeing such a bright color in nature. There is one cardinal which I hate though: the one who sits in the tree outside my bedroom window and whistles his little heart out every stinking morning starting at 5 O'CLOCK IN THE FREAKING MORNING!!! Other that him, I think cardinals are great.
I'd never heard of a red-winged blackbird prior to moving out here, but they're my favorite of them all. Their name describes them pretty well; they're black with a patch of red (and a little bit of yellow) at the base of their wing. As with most birds, we're primarily talking about the males here, because the females look pretty blah. Sucks to be a girl bird, I guess. The red-winged blackbirds live in the more wetland-type areas, which out here means in the ditches on the sides of the road (in the rural places). This makes driving to and from work (I work next to a corn field) like a little adventure every day looking for these birds in the tall grass. (I also get to look for deer on one of my two routes.)
photo borrowed from wikipedia
6 comments:
Dude, you're getting old.
That was Brett btw, and now you have 2 comments!
For the record, I hate that bird outside our window. I went after him with a broom last week. Because that's the only thing you think to do when it's 5:30 and a stupid bird won't shut up: Grab something. Whack it around. Scare the bird.
I'm old because I like birds? Or I'm because I dislike being woken up at 5AM?
Old because you like birds. BTW, if you want to go bird watching, there's a wonderful place called Madera Canyon. You should look it up. (still Brett here, still too lazy to log out and log in as me)
I love blackbirds. We have a lot of red-wings near my house, and I get Brewer's blackbirds at my feeder. I like the noise we make. If you go to a pond, you may find yellow-headed blackbirds, which are also pretty.
I keep meaning to get you a bird field guide. A good guide and a feeder outside your window, and you'll have lots of fun!
Post a Comment