I have never been a bird person, in fact I could not see what people saw in sitting for hours waiting to get a shot of some unknown un heard of ball of feathers.
However, this year I started placing feeders, hangers for suet, peanuts and more in the garden and throwing fat balls out, and now I actually enjoy sitting with a coffee and a pair of binoculars.
I have NO idea what the birds are other than the tits, jays and blackbirds, robins, but they are soooo interesting to watch.
Ok, I never will have that mad passion some have but they really do give pleasure don't they, and cost a r***y fortune at pets at home.
I have a stash of 5 tubs of fat balls, peanuts seeds and black sunflower seeds, which the local mice have taken an interest in along with the fox and badger
We have bird feeders on our front porch, and the birds will actually come right onto the porch and eat while we are watching from the front door or the picture window . We have a lot of cardinals; which are truly beautiful, at least the male ones are. The females are just a plain brown color and not the brilliant red of the males.
There are a lot of smaller birds that come and eat, too, although I am not sure what kind they are. The ones that are my favorites, however, are the Mourning Doves.
They usually walk around on the lawn looking for any spilled seeds, and often will walk right up the ramp and onto the porch.
Unlike the other birds, the doves do not fly up to the bird feeders and eat, they walk along on the ground or the porch floor, and eat the seeds that have fallen out of the feeders.
Especially in the winter, when it is hard for the birds to find enough food to eat, they appreciate being able to fly in every day and visit our "buffet lunch". So, even though we don't know what each one of the birds are, and never take pictures of them either, we enjoy watching them when they come to the porch to eat.
I also put bread crumbs out in the yard and the birds and squirrels both enjoy coming along and getting bites of that. Plus, the older bread is not just wasted that way; so it is good all the way around.
This is not abnormal at all since you can't have an affinity for all forms of pets. It all stems from childhood proclivities. I developed a liking for birds when I was in elementary school. I was fascinated by their ubiquitous nature and their exciting rainbow of colours. To like birds, you just have to observe the peaceful doves or the busy weaver birds at work.
I love birdies out in the wild, but less so in a cage in someone's home. They are noisy, messy and not really meant to be caged in the first place. My favorites are the Blue Jays, the Cardinals and other colorful birds like that. Robins are fun because they seem to be so plentiful, and are less bashful than some birds. I've known robins that would let me walk practically right up to them before they'd finally move out of the way. The same goes for the tiny chickadee, also a people-friendly bird. I am considering buying my first hummingbird feeder so I can attach it to my balcony and maybe get some good pictures and videos of hummers. I saw some feeders down at the Dollar Tree, so the possibility is still up in the air but definitely doable when I get around to it. My mom once held a hummingbird in her hand, after rescuing him from being trapped in the garage. He was so tired, he actually sat in her palm for several minutes to rest before taking flight again. I was able to run into the house, grab my camera and get one picture before he finally flew away. He was so cute, it was impossible not to feel the urge to "awwww" right out loud.
