All my life...
- jstanion1890
- Apr 16
- 2 min read
My mother's a birdwatcher, although at 94, she struggles to see them as well as she used to. Every spring of my childhood, our yard was a riot of colorful azalea beds, white in one corner, magenta in another with rows of elegant pink and white striped George Tabors stretching between. Growing up, I was pretty sure the colors attracted the birds...that and the abundance of housing Mom provided in every nook and cranny under the trees. We had hummingbirds, chickadees, titmice, purple finches, evening grosbeaks, bluebirds, towhees, and countless others as soon as any whisper of spring arrived.
My earliest "research" activity, besides using a dictionary, was learning to use Mom's "bird book" to identify which species was feeding. It never occurred to me to think about how diligently Mom planned food for her guests. Other than the meticulously prepared sugar drink for the hummers, I assumed they all ate birdseed. Good old, garden variety, hardware store birdseed.
There was the occasional chunk of beef suet held tightly to an old fence post with a carefully bent square of hardware cloth. It was for the bluebirds specifically because Mom knew they'd eat insects when the suet ran out, but the rest of the winged critters had to get by on birdseed.
Despite the diversity of birds I saw over the years, the single species that never made an appearance in Mother's yard was the goldfinch. The yellow flashes of color from the grosbeaks were exciting, but I was certain that nothing could possibly be as beautiful as a bird that was dazzling yellow from beak to tail.
All my life, I wanted to see that bird.
But, until the ripe old age of, well, never mind, I didn't consider that a gold finch might need (or want) something very specific. Something out of the ordinary. Something not in the good old birdseed of my youth.
Thank goodness for parents who taught me to be a lifelong learner. To never give up. To keep searching for answers and setting goals. When a bag of "finch seed" didn't attract anything but rusty-tinted finches and a flock of cowbirds, I decided to experiment with Niger seed. As you can see, that was the answer.
Whether it's bird watching or book writing, never give up on your dreams.
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