About Me

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Recent retiree--35 year's experience teaching reading, English, adult basic education and volunteer leadership skills. Started this blog to exchange ideas and commentary with friends and others having an interest in joining the discussions. Greatest life accomplishments include: 1.organized my 3rd grade class to check out library books for me to get around librarian's weekly limit--Amazon.com, the Mullins Elementary 3rd Grade Class of 1956 is still waiting for "thank you" notes; 2. volunteered in the Peace Corps, island of St. Kitts, West Indies; 3.taught adults to read, earn their GEDs., and speak English as a second language; 4. bought a border collie puppy for $6, got evicted rather than give him up, and began a life-long love affair with all things "Dog"; 5. joined a physical fitness boot camp in my mid-50s--don't mess with someone who's been doing regulation pushups in wet grass at 5:30 a.m.; 6. walked across Northern England with best friend Sally--over 80 miles from the Irish to North Seas; and 7. travelled to many foreign countries for pleasure and work.

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Wild Bird Wednesday - a Singer

This beauty is serenading from the trees in the front yard and feasting on the berries of the viburnum next to the house.  I hear its distinctive song and grab the camera, mostly only to see a flash of white tail feathers as it flies away.  Its back is a soft grey-brown and undercarriage a grey-white.  A rather large bird, but not quite as big as a mourning dove. Wings are short in contrast to the tail; beak is short and dark.  The examples of song birds that I saw on the Cornell University all about birds website didn't have didn't have the prominent dark markings on the head as this one does.  Anyhoo!  I'm thinking a Northern Mockingbird?  What say you?

Here are the viburnum berries that the birds are loving right now:


Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday .

4 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

nice berry bushes to reel them in!

jp@A Green Ridge said...

Looks like a Blue Jay...they do have a distinctive call and song. If other birds scatter, it might be...:)JP

Anonymous said...

so pretty & love the red berries

Happy Independence Day!

Faye said...

I'm the pits at bird ID - this is actually a blue jay. I've since gotten a pic of the singer. It's those white tail feathers that threw me--ahemmm!