Thursday, February 22, 2007
my favorite things
swan
Thursday, February 15, 2007
My Fave
What is your favorite... movie, book, website, or tv show?
or band, singer, play, breed of dog, or bird?
I think my favorite bird must be the chickadee
--black-capped chickadee, to be specific. They
hang around all winter long, singing,
"chick-a-dee-dee-dee," and you can talk to them,
& they listen! Chickadees are known to eat out
of people's hands, & they fly close to get a good
look at you. They're brave, the one bird that doesn't
always fly away frantically when I step out on the
porch, where the birdfeeder is. I've seen them eating
dried berries in the woods, swinging upside-down
on branches to get at them, swinging & flying &
singing their way through the brutally cold days,
& the first to greet the spring with calls, one whistle
followed by two of a note a couple steps below.
If you whistle the same tones, you can on a
conversation for probably longer than you want to.
But if the response to this mating call is a half-step
below, like a sad minor to a joyous major, it means
the other chickadee is spoken for (that's what my friend,
Jenn Jump, told me). They're the tiniest, the happiest,
the bravest, & the toughest birds around.
& they're always around!