For the love of birds

I am not sure when it started, but I'm guessing around age 10 or so. This love of birds of mine. Initially, I wanted a bird aviary; I wanted them up close and personal. I wanted to watch them fly around, build nests, and watch those baby birds pop out of their eggshells. 

Of course, my dad would not hear of it; he wouldn't bend even a little. No birds; they were messy, dirty, and I think they grossed him out. And so, I had to wait. 

The minute I moved out of my parents' home and into my very own apartment, I was off to the bird shop. I bought a cage, some accessories, and of course a beautiful little parakeet. I named him Pete. Was he a male? I really don't know. After a few weeks, I felt Pete was lonely. I bought Pete a little friend and named him Repete. I'm funny like that.

One thing I learned quite quickly was that my dad was right. Oh, those parents. They think they know everything, for Pete and Repete threw their birdseed everywhere. And if I did not stay on top of cleaning their cage, well, it smelled like a zoo. There I was every day after work, sweeping up birdseed and changing the newspaper lining on the bottom of their cage. Did I mind, though? No, I did not. I loved those little birds.

Eventually, kids took the birds' place for a few years. There just wasn't time to care for kids, dogs, cats, rabbits, rats, and, well, all other critters that came along with having kids. I will place the blame on them here, because I don't want to admit that I was the cause of all the big and little critters that invaded our home. I let them have any and all critters. 

After a few years, I eventually moved on from parakeets to finches. I had a pair of zebra finches; they were beautiful. Since I am such an admitted TV buff, I named them after one of my favorite TV shows. I called them Davenport and Furillo, from Hill Street Blues. I am easily influenced. 

As time marched on and my kids grew older, my love of birds had to take a sabbatical. A few years later, though, I realized (slow learner) that tons of birds lived in the outside world. Especially in the state of Ohio. Who knew? So many beautiful birds! I realized that I couldn't cage them all, so I did the next best thing. I created my very own outdoor giant bird aviary on 3/4 of an acre that wasn't caged in. I bought many, many bird feeders of all varieties, and many more birdhouses for all the nests they were going to nest in for me. And they did. 

I had and still have birds galore. I have a bird identifier app on my phone, a bird feeder camera (that my youngest son bought for me as a birthday gift), and I'm constantly on the lookout for the latest and greatest thing to draw birds to my backyard. 

I quickly found out, though, that birdseed draws other critters. Skunks, raccoons, opossums, and chipmunks—I am in outdoor critter heaven. Along with my many deer, I am one happy gal. 

Birds? Yes, I still love them. And now, all their many friends too. I am happy. I have critters, I have birds, and I now have lots of grandkids to influence. I hope to pass on this love of birds. In the meantime, though—here birdy, birdy, birdy.