The word “Twittersphere” has finally migrated from “The Urban Dictionary” to “The Oxford English Dictionary” and I had to laugh when I heard that story on the news yesterday. Social media has taken the world by storm and now, even the prim and proper British dictionary used by wordsmiths everywhere. will include the words “Twitter” and “Tweet” … not so long ago, twitters and tweets were bird noises only. I’ve always loved birds and through the years our family has had pet parakeets and canaries and it has always been fun to listen to them jibber-jabbering to their toys, talking a blue streak, chirping or singing away, truly a sign of a healthy and happy little feathered friend. My canary Buddy has been with me for two and one-half years today. He is truly “my buddy” and I think the world of him, and then some. But my love of birds does not stop with my pet. I also enjoy the wild birds – their antics, or beautiful voices once the sun comes up on a still Summer morn, or even the long, mournful cooing of a mourning dove. We’ve even had crows here in the neighborhood through the years – we’d listen to their loud caw, caw, caw as they flew from tree to tree. It sounded a little the old T.V. show “Hee Haw” sometimes. I like interacting with the outside birds, hearing their song and whistling back to them. They would continue for an hour if you were so inclined and your whistler did not get too parched and dry. I was getting better at identifying some of the birds at Council Point Park, even if I did not see the actual bird, but I have decided to abandon that weekend trip until the Fall much as I hate to do so. The area is too marshy and with the humidity and all our rain, I suspect it will soon become a haven for mosquitoes. While walking this morning, I passed several quagmires and toadstools aplenty from all our recent rains plus more rain is in the forecast. So, I mapped out a similar length route today, away from the water, so we’ll see how that goes. I got three miles in today, but no duck tales to be told.

Query: why do people use the term “birdbrain” – birds are far from stupid. From their perch high in the sky, birds can spot food in the street, a treat or a bird bath from the highest tree top.

In the grocery store parking lot yesterday, someone had left behind a half-eaten pizza and at least twenty seagulls honed in on the bright red pizza box, and had flipped it open and were taking crusts to go – in fact, two of them playing tug of war with an especially long piece of crust. Still others were playing tiddlywinks with the pepperoni pieces that were scattered around the parking lot. They were so raucous and swooping and diving, I was hoping the congealed cheese might glue their mouths shut for awhile. No birdbrains there – they know a good thing when they see it. You don’t ever want to go to A&W and mindlessly toss an onion ring or bite of your footlong bun to a seagull there because in record time he will jump up on the hood of your car to demand more. I saw it many times when my mom and I used to go to A&W.

The birds sit high in the sky and spy the owner of the birdfeeder once they open the door, with the seed container in hand. This morning, I watched in amusement as a squirrel was dangling dangerously over a huge feeder causing it to list precariously and spill seed everywhere while he greedily used his paws like scoops to shovel out sunflower seeds and birdseed into his mouth. Well you are not a bird so what gives you the right Mr. Squirrel? The mourning doves and pigeons saw him and the spilled seeds and sped over on their short, stubby legs to grab their fair share. The starlings were stalking about, clearly mad, as they tried to butt in and snatch some of the seeds that they figured belonged to them. Three jays were calling angrily trying to threaten the squirrel with bodily damage from their sharp beaks. A row of angry sparrows lined up like soldiers and were wearing equally angry looks as they chattered to one another about “their” seeds. The squirrel was not paying any attention to any of them … he continued his calisthenics to pilfer anything within his reach. Well the trickle-down theory just doesn’t apply to Economics 101 – life isn’t easy is it? So, I guess you can say this post is for the birds.