Birding with an Apprentice

I went for a walk with my almost five-year-old granddaughter the other day. I'd been told she recognized crows and robins and thought it was time to stretch her birding abilities. I pointed to a little bird on a wire and asked if she saw the bird.

Sure, she said, it's a robin.

Our first lesson involved discussion of the colour of a Robin's chest and the points on a Barn Swallow's tail.
Fortunately a real Robin stopped to search for worms nearby, allowing her to marvel at how much bigger he was than the Swallow.


Then I pried her away from the trampoline and we went in search of more birds. There were Goldfinches and Yellow Warblers darting around, but none obligingly settled down where we could get a good look.


The Cedar Waxwings were more accomodating. Rebecca with her five-year-old ears was able to imitate their whistle quite well. I was impressed.


(This photo came from last week, as did the Barn Swallow. Photography and granddaughters mix rather poorly, but she did take some rather nice shots of me, a chain and some leaves.)

Then we saw this juvenile Robin just feet away from us. An exciting moment. After that she really wanted to go back to the trampoline, but I'll turn her into a birder yet. I have a nice pair of miniature binoculars that should help.