Over the course of September and into early October the First Grader is supposed to be working on a science project where she makes her own field guide for birds. Basically it’s supposed to be a folder where she puts photos {or hand-drawn pictures} of birds in it and writes a brief description of each one.
I thought this would be simple enough. But, do you know how hard it is to find cooperative birds in the suburbs in late September? Because we’re looking for them, I promise I haven’t seen any in weeks. So far, we’ve borrowed a picture from my mom of some baby birds that hatched in a nest on her porch this past spring. And… that’s all we’ve got. But, it’s not for lack of trying.
The First Grader and I spent no small amount of time on the patio of Panera Bread last week trying to take a picture of any of the hundred birds, and I’m not even exaggerating, that are nesting in the shrubs there. I realize that most people don’t go to their local bakery and cafe for bird-watching purposes, but I thought it would be such a fun lesson to find one in a place where we might not normally even notice them. You know, a “nature is always around you” moment. Alas, “nature” did not desire to be photographed.
Yesterday, I thought our fortune had changed when I glanced out the window in the kitchen and saw a tiny bird perched picture-perfectly on top of a chair on our back porch. So, I gasped and yelled to the girls:
“Hey, there’s a bird on the back porch!!”… “NO ONE MOVE!!!”
And, then, I tiptoed over to the window, camera-phone in hand, with the First-Grader close behind me.
You can imagine my disappointment when this is the best shot we could get:
Please tell me you see the bird. I know it’s a little like a Hidden Pictures game, but do you see it??
I’ll give you a clue if you just have to have one. It’s on top of the chair to the bottom left of the umbrella.
See?? It’s a bird. Sure, we may have to use a 500% zoom to write a description of it. But, we took an honest picture of a little winged creature… in its most natural habitat.
The Spouse doesn’t understand why we can’t just go to the bird exhibit at the zoo. It’s just that somehow I feel like that would be cheating. But, if we don’t find a few birds around here this weekend without having to wear camouflage and using a professional zoom lens on the camera, I’ll be purchasing zoo passes.
Or using Wikipedia.
Happy weekend!
And, if you see any birds in your neck of the woods, please send them our direction.
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