Last season I walked through the campground on my way to get a tool I needed for a small repair. On the way, I noticed Bob quietly sitting on his patio. I made a smart remark and asked him what he was doing. He said he was watching the bluebirds. I spend quite a bit of time in the campground usually driving something noisy (mower, trencher, truck), fixing something, or talking to campers.

This time I just sat down in one of Bob’s chairs and watched the birds. Bob had a bluebird house east of his camper and there was a pair of bluebirds feeding their young in the house. While I was watching them, I heard a Jenny Wren. Only eight feet away to the west, Bob had a little wren house with young in it! Then a Yellow Canary flew by in a hurry to get somewhere. I heard some cooing from the cottonwood across the road and finally saw two Mourning Doves as they made a pass at Bob’s birdbath. Then an American Finch flew in, looked around and left.

Bob does not feed the birds, although some of his neighbors do, but he simply makes comfortable homes for them and lets nature take its course. I had been sitting down for less than ten minutes listening to Bob’s stories about the birds and had seen five different varieties. As I got up to be on my way, I noticed a fast moving dark streak that slowed down enough as it went by for me to realize it was a hummingbird! What a great day!