Birds

I am not a birder. My friend AB used to be married to a birder. Lovely guy, but you'd go over to their house and he'd put on warbler CDs and then quiz you. He has a life list.

I don't have a life list. I do have bird CDs, courtesy of Bry and Slangred, which I like. I use them for reference for birds that visit my backyard. I think they'd approve of this use, as they're both reference librarians. I also have bird books. I like them, looking at all the pictures and trying to match the picture up to what I see outside my window or on a walk through the woods. It verges on birding, but I think falls just short.

One reason I got into the bird thing pretty hard was WBU. WBU is Wild Birds Unlimited. They're a national chain, but the "local" one (15 miles away, but freeway close!) was run by the fantastic couple. One liked birds, the other people. They had a standard poodle and a very warm shop. They loved it when I brought Red in. In September, I went wandering in with Biscuit and Jenny and I had a great talk about new dogs. Biscuit thought Jenny was beyond great. Then Jenny mentioned leaving and that she and Chris were moving to the Midwest and here was the new owner. My heart sank.

L.A. is such a non-place. I can slip through my days and never connect to anyone but those I already know. Box (house) to box (car) to box (office) and back. I do like that the baristas at my Starbucks know and are nice to me. I wish the arrogant crew at Jamba with their fakey "Hi!" greetings would be as nice as the sbucks crowd. But WBU was different. It was like the places I went with my Dad growing up. He liked knowing his pharmacist, his mechanic, his cleaner counter folks. He's moved too often since to maintain that, but they still know him at the butcher store. At WBU, Jenny always remembered what birds I fed, what kinds of feeders I had. She always asked after Red and Honey. She recommended the ordinary--the "Eliminator" to prevent squirrels and the extraordinary--a sock stuffed with rotting bananas to attract more vibrant birds.

Since she and Chris sold the shop, I haven't been back, even though I have "banked" seed.

Yesterday, I filled all the feeders for the first time in a long time. A flock of goldfinches came around almost immediately. Goldfinches are the best birds I get in my yard. Little yellow jewels hanging upside down all over my feeders (they like the hang upside down when they eat). I root for the underdog birds too. Lots of doves pecking around.

We went to see Sandra, Joel and JMPR last night. Ever since they bought their house, I have had an intense jealousy of their built-in outdoor aviary. They have tried, with some lack of success, to maintain a zebra finch population out there. Their last one died a while ago and with a new baby the finch issue isn't foremost in their hearts. On the way out, I stopped at Petco and bought them two Society finches, a brown and white one and a white one. Joel almost made me cry when he said the white one looked like a dove. I hope they have a vibrant and very inbred colony of society finches soon. If they don't, those two I bought should have some happy times in the aviary. It's got to be better than the San Dimas Petco.

I don't know if its the return of the goldfinches, but I think I may be ready to go pick up some banked seed at WBU soon. It won't be the same without Jenny, but I want to keep getting goldfinches around the yard.

I'm not always sure how to separate the people and the birds. When I go back east, every robin I see turns my head. My grandmother and I looked for acorn tops to have "tea parties" with the robins. When I find a kind place like WBU, I want to hold on tight. But my arms are weak and I'm not in charge of the world.