Date: Fri, 2 Jan 2004 08:43:40 -0800 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Lynette Fullerton Subject: The Year of the Chickadee In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii One of the things I always look forward to on New Year's Day is the first bird - and the posts that follow on Osprey during the next few days. My first bird of the year took a while to get - I checked out all the feeders, looked out all the windows...nothing to be seen anywhere! Finally I sat down and started reading a book, and after about fifteen minutes I saw something out of the corner of my eye - a chickadee at the feeder. Then one species after another did their best to beat the squirrels to the feeder - juncos, cardinals, downy woodpecker, white-breasted nuthatch, titmice, white-throated sparrows, mourning doves, Carolina wren - eleven species in all, most of them without my even getting up off the couch! The icing on the cake, however, came about half an hour later, when I was again dragged away from my book (didn't take much - it's not a very good book!) by a rustling of feathers, followed by the sight of a junco bouncing off the screen window - procrastination sometimes has its payoff, as I haven't put the storm window down yet...I jumped up to see what had caused the fuss, and found myself eye to eye with a Sharp-Shinned Hawk! Things got very, very quiet after that... With a start like that, I can't wait to see what the rest of the year will bring! Good birding, everyone... Lynette Fullerton Odenton, AA Co., MD l_fullerton_1999atyahoo.com ~~~~~~ Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul And sings the tune without the words And never stops - at all. --Emily Dickinson __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Protect your identity with Yahoo! Mail AddressGuard http://antispam.yahoo.com/whatsnewfree ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================