Birding from the futon

UPDATE:   Great Blue Heron sighted from futon on February 20, 2012!

I used to keep a couch list of all the birds I observed from the comfort of my living room couch.  Now that I have a newly-renovated addition with big windows and a comfy futon, I am going to start keeping a futon list.

Most birders keep a life list of all the bird species that they have ever seen.  Not me…when I see a a bird that I’ve never seen before, I get excited.  It’s one of the joys of birding.  If I did keep a life list, and I were to see a bird that I thought was new to me, it would be a let-down to check my list and discover that it’s not.  Not keeping a life list means I’ll have more exciting birding experiences, simply because my memory isn’t that great. Hey, I just discovered a silver lining to the aging process!

View from the futon

The futon list may not have as many birds on it as the couch list did.  The window out the living room faces approximately five wooded acres and a system of storm water management ponds, which attracts many water birds.  The window out the addition on the back of my house faces the backyard, as well as several of my neighbors’ backyards.  The futon list will probably not include ducks, geese, or herons, but who knows?  Stranger things have happened.  The great thing about these lists is that they remind me of how much wildlife there is in my neighborhood.  It’s like counting my blessings!

The Futon List (last updated February 20, 2012):

blue jay
carolina wren
cardinal
chickadee
downy woodpecker
goldfinch
great blue heron
hairy woodpecker
house sparrow
hummingbird
junco
mourning dove
pileated woodpecker
red-bellied woodpecker
red-shouldered hawk
red-winged blackbird
robin
song sparrow
starling
tufted titmouse
white-breasted nuthatch
white-throated sparrow

Comments are closed.