Just another average sunset in paradise!

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Something I never expected to see!

I really enjoy all of the wildlife pictures on the blogs I follow.  The bird photos by Al of  The Bayfield Bunch and those by Judy on Travels with Emma remind me of how few colorful birds we have in Southern California.  There are some colorful birds in the local mountains including several type of jays, bluebirds and even the occasional cardinal but there are almost none here at the beach.

Yesterday I had a flashback to when I was about ten years old and probably getting into some type of mischief in my backyard.  A bird I had never seen before landed in one of our peach trees and I was entranced.  I stood very still and watched him until he flew away.  I rushed into my grandfather's house and grabbed his copy of the "National Audobon Society Field Guide to Birds" and searched page by page until I found the bird's picture and identified him as a Western Tanager.  (Googling is so much easier.)

Whether it was just a coincidence or esp or whatever, shortly after my daydreaming about the Western Tanager, while I was out walking Jesse, one landed in a tree not more than twenty feet in front of me!  More than fifty years had passed between my two sightings of this beautiful bird and I was just as entranced this time as I was when I was ten.

4 comments:

  1. Thanks for the shout out. I think Western tanagers are a pretty spectacular bird too. :)

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  2. Living in the desert everything is a boring shade of dirt or drab green. I had a western tanager visit last year. It was a thrill!

    I, too, love the photos on the blogs.

    Cyndi & Stumpy @ RVly Ever After

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  3. congrats on seeing a western tanager!..and yes, googling is easier than searching in a book!!..or even snapping a picture and asking the 'bird lady' of blogville is another good option!

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  4. Very serendipitous post today, Dave. I was out back helping a boy find his lost remote controlled plane. Thought it might have gone into the big cedar tree. When looking up there, I noticed a very colorful bird that I thought at first was a parakeet. Then, it flew off and now I know it was a western tanager! Beautiful colorful bird. We don't see many around here. Thanks for sharing.

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