When I was younger, I wondered at the fascination that birders had with our winged companions on this planet.
I do now, perhaps because I’ve taken more time over the past few years to settle down and watch the world around.
I think about birds more often because on several early mornings, MaLinda and I have coffee on our backyard patio.
This happens about 6 a.m., an hour early enough to talk about the coming –some of that is work-related - but the topics usually are as easy going as that time of day allows.
But, back to the birds, one interesting attraction for us at the crack of dawn is watching the swallows circle.
They have a nest built with mud and sticks under the eaves.
It truly looks like a full house up there, but it seems only yesterday much younger swallows were coming and going on what would be the swallow equivalent of pilot training.
So, the nest was crowded then – I don’t know if they leave after learning to fly – and the nest is crowded now.
I’ve long admired these birds that circle close – particularly close if you’re a dog or cat, since they’re unwanted around the nest.
We own no cat that would at tempt the climb to their nest.
Even so, the birds run more aerial intimidation routes when the four-legged critters are about.
Late at night, they remind me of bats, by the way they flutter-fly.
I like bats, by the way, because they eat mosquitos.
We also have a nice variety of other birds to occupy our attention in those morning – ducks, mockingbirds, doves and geese.
I’ve always been interested in the stars.
It helps when there’s a big deal going in astronomical events.
Early this morning, I went with our dogs and made the mistake of looking at the heavens, instead of making sure the two canines are doing their business.
For the puppy, that’s doubly the case, because if she won’t go on the grass, she most certainly will go on the floor once inside.
There is an alignment taking shape of the naked eye planets – Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn – plus the moon, of course.
For the first time in 18 years, the moon and those planets will form an arc in the eastern/southeastern sky.
That planet alignment, by the way, is best seen before dawn Friday, June 24.
The peak time to see this is 45 minutes before sunrise on Friday, June 24.
Like I said, early morning is where it’s happening these days for me.
