What the Birds Did in Avalon's Neighborhood Chapter 1

If it was legal to shoot a mocking bird my mother would do it. Or at least to try and scare it off. Our local mocking bird knows calls from a small hawk to the croak of a frog, and he always sings in the early morning. The very early morning. He begins his songs sometimes around 3am, and other nights he begins from 5am and goes until 7am. My mother hated it because it would wake her up, especially on those warm summer nights when he window would be open, and the summer wind would blow the songs right to her. She isn't the best sleeper. But whenever I would hear him at night, either waking me from my sleep or reminding me to go to bed, it gave me comfort.

Nights when I would be scared he would start to sing, and his song would remind me that there are other people out there, that he is awake, and I am not as alone as I feel. I think this was when I began to love birds. The mornings of summer, or afternoons when I would wake up, the scrubjays and finches would be outside in our backyard, doing what they do. They would search for seeds, dig in the ground, call to one another, and of course the occasional fights. Then the Crows would wake up. They are rather mean in my area. They tease the scrubjays and scare the finches. The Crows would take their place upon the highest branches, and caw to their friends, or sometimes just caw to themselves. 

The more often I looked for them, the more often the birds would appear. They would sing songs I have never heard of before, and new ones would come by like the Hawks, the Woodpeckers, and the one I have taken the most liking to: A Black Phoebe. I will never forget the night my family began to hear owls. They would always hoot in intervals of three, and it was even more magical when we heard multiple hoots. These birds all interact in such funny and interesting ways. The more and more I listen and observe, the more and more I grow to adore them. I do believe I am a bird watcher in the making, and I wouldn't mind having a companion bird to rest on my shoulder, or just have a few friends from my backyard.

So, for my next few posts, to reminisce and honor the birds in my neighborhood, I'm going to post them and their stories. I'll tell how I've gotten close to them, and how much they mean to me. Every chapter will describe the birds themselves, and how they impacted my life and happiness. While I know the barrier between wildlife and domesticated is small, and fantasy and the real world can never coexist, I am still so enchanted by the little noisy neighbors who I happily share my home with.