My long-time readers are probably almost as familiar with the road I daily walk on as I am. These two decades started with Kiera 1 and Lilly, and continued with Kiera 2. She has been gone 4 years now, but I have kept walking, I guess as much out of habit as anything.
Lately, I’ve used the walk as a kind of meditation to help clear my mind of work pressures. One of the easiest ways to push away work thoughts is to just listen. Listen to the wind. Listen to the insects. And really listen to the birds.
As I was listening, I tried to figure out how many bird songs I could identify. And I was a little shocked at how abysmally few I could recognize and connect with the correct bird.
So I’ve been on a mission to learn all of the birds that I hear on my walk. And you’d be amazed at how many birds there are. Of course, everyone knows what a crow sounds like. And maybe you can identify a couple of others. But could you identify a wren, or a sparrow, or a red-winged blackbird, or a thrush. I’ve got all those birds locally and dozens more.
There was one bird song in particular that I couldn’t find. The song is peter-peter-peter. Finally found it through the All About Birds website.
It’s the tufted titmouse!
I’ve also discovered the app, Peterson Field Guides Birds of North America. It’s not free but you don’t have to create an account, although you will always be bugged to at each startup. Just X out and go. It’s been great to help for identifying birds on the go.
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