I learn the bird breeds one at a time, just like plants. It takes me several repetitions to learn.
On days like today, I can watch them for hours. The wife and I had several conversations about the birds today.
Little stuff like, noticing how the junco fan their tail feathers in the snow on the railing. They left notches like the crenelations on a castle wall.
Or how the 5 stripe sparrow that hangs out with the juncos was bossy today.
Or just how wrens are the cutest color (ike she hasn't heard me say that before.)
Apparently the word for wren in ancient welsh sounds like "drui" and was related the welsh word for druid.This makes sense to me.
The modern Welsh word for starling is something like 'druid bird,' which is totally the wrong name in my opinion.
It took me a year to figure out one of our favorite trees is a beech tree. Still unkown are two more favorite trees which might be small beech or ash or something else.
You lucky, lucky man. What a delightful way to weather the storm.