Year of the Redtail

I was busy with houseguests this weekend, and couldn't get away for an early morning birdwalk to start the year. Then, driving to church, an adult Red-tailed Hawk flying across the road in front of me was my first bird of 2006. Since I'm writing about Pale Male in the first chapter of my dissertation on urban bird conservation (which I'm trying to complete it this year), I'm more than happy to see this sighting as an omen, and look forward to a happy and productive Year of the Red-tailed Hawk.

After church, I took the kids and our friends to Peace Valley Park. As we approached the bird blind, one of our friends' kids said that he hated birds. I said, "you don't hate birds, you just don't know you like them yet".

Sure enough, in ten minutes we saw over a dozen species at close range, including a lifer Red-breasted Nuthatch for my kids. As we left the blind, that same kid who hated birds was gushing about the bird blind and how cool it was to see those birds.

Nobody hates birds. Some people just don't know how much they like them yet.