I returned from a professional workshop (the National Association for Interpretation) I attended earlier this month having won a new bird identification book, binoculars and with revived enthusiasm for birding (bird watching).

The kids have long been helping me look out for birds and can identify several bird calls and songs. At age 3, L would excitedly point out a "common gwackle" (common grackle). I recently attended A's class field trip to a local nature center where we went in search of birds. The kids usually beat Mom to identify the short song of a black-capped chickadee.

With excitement for the slowly approaching spring and an amazing variety of migrating birds in our area, we've spent a lot of time already looking through our family binoculars, matching up bird species in our book and creating lists of sightings. This is a fun way for us to spend time interacting with each other while learning about the beautiful world around us. 

The backyard bird feeder, trees and neighboring pond have attracted birds such as mergansers (common and hooded), several species of sparrows, a coot, a downy woodpecker and many others.