For the birds....
One of the amazing things about Christchurch is the sound of songbirds. Even in the downtown area, midst all the hustle and bustle like cranes (not birds) knocking buildings over, damaged by the earthquakes in the last two years, the birds are lovely. They sing all the time.
I was astounded (I don't really know why) when New Zealand Sean (daughter Sutter's hubby), knew the names of the birds around him, wherever we were, and could sing their songs back to them. He said that when he went to school they learned all the birds' songs. Wonderful! I wondered if I could identify even one bird.
Back to Newport Beach, where I grew up. When we were in Girl Scouts, camping at Catalina Island, all we heard was the snort of the wild pigs. Pity the girls that were sleeping and the animals decided to enter their tents and take what they wanted. Those pigs were definitely not boring boars.
Back at 'Big Corona', the beach where some us hung out as teenagers. We only heard the seagulls. Not too interesting, except when they were forming a bombing raid and deciding whose head was going to be their next target. That happened once to me. UGH.
Back to NZ, last spring. One early morning last November, laying in my cozy bed at S&S's house, I was quite sure I was able to sort out different songbirds! There was one in particular. It was rather quiet, a bit repetitive, but I really heard it. I looked out to the yard to see if it was obviously close. Couldn't find it.
A few minutes later I was telling Sean about it. He started to get a weird look on his face. "It was a car alarm, right?" "Yeah. But it was the best melodic alarm I've ever heard." So much for my nature studies.
Live richly, marilyn
I was astounded (I don't really know why) when New Zealand Sean (daughter Sutter's hubby), knew the names of the birds around him, wherever we were, and could sing their songs back to them. He said that when he went to school they learned all the birds' songs. Wonderful! I wondered if I could identify even one bird.
Back to Newport Beach, where I grew up. When we were in Girl Scouts, camping at Catalina Island, all we heard was the snort of the wild pigs. Pity the girls that were sleeping and the animals decided to enter their tents and take what they wanted. Those pigs were definitely not boring boars.
Back at 'Big Corona', the beach where some us hung out as teenagers. We only heard the seagulls. Not too interesting, except when they were forming a bombing raid and deciding whose head was going to be their next target. That happened once to me. UGH.
Back to NZ, last spring. One early morning last November, laying in my cozy bed at S&S's house, I was quite sure I was able to sort out different songbirds! There was one in particular. It was rather quiet, a bit repetitive, but I really heard it. I looked out to the yard to see if it was obviously close. Couldn't find it.
A few minutes later I was telling Sean about it. He started to get a weird look on his face. "It was a car alarm, right?" "Yeah. But it was the best melodic alarm I've ever heard." So much for my nature studies.
Live richly, marilyn
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