A morning well spent...

Two years ago we were studying Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day (Apologia Elementary Science Series) and we joined some friends who were in a Young Birder's Club to be a hands-on application for learning. We ended up falling in love with being out in God's Creation and learning about the fascinating study of birds - the verses from the Bible about God's care for the birds, and more so us, come rushing into my mind every time we go on a bird walk. Long since we finished our year studying all things that fly, we have remained in the birding group and spent one Saturday morning a month with our birding people.

Our official meeting was last week, and it was fun. However, not everyone in our family is old enough for the actual meeting, so the two little boys stayed at home for some Daddy time. Noah has been complaining lately, saying he hates birding and that it is boring. I prayed about it, because I don't want him to discount an activity all together just because it stretches him, but once I considered that he had attended two years worth of meetings with a relatively good attitude, I decided that when Elliott could be home I wouldn't make him go. He was thrilled to have a morning with Dad and his brothers in place of little feathered friends.

If I had to guess, and I am sure if I asked Noah for specifics, Noah's dislike is not about the birds themselves. He actually gets just as excited about a new find as the rest of us. What bothers him is the being quiet. Since his early days of life, quiet has never been a word to describe him. At 3 years old, we actually were concerned he was deaf because he was so loud, we thought maybe he couldn't hear and was compensating with volume. The walks are also slow. You take your time, usually discussing habitats or things to look for and field markings on what we have seen. Noah doesn't do slow. He is happiest when he is blazing down our street standing on his bike or running laps in the backyard. He enjoys roller coasters that make your stomach flip, they make life go at his speed. When you consider that the expected behavior for birding is quiet and slow, you can imagine his misery.

So, last week was the first time Noah stayed home from a YBC meeting. The girls and I were excited to go and we rode with friends. Once we were there and we met the guest speaker/teacher for this month's meeting I just had to laugh. Mr. Craig is the park interpreter for Guadalupe River State Park, he is a naturalist and really loves birds (he actually has a very special license to band them). And he is loud. And when he goes on bird walks, he moves fast, he even ran up to a little clump of trees at one point, bounding off with excitement at what he saw. One of my friend's girls even said, "We sure are being loud today!" Noah would have loved it!

So, I talked with Craig a little, mentioning my son's aversion to the quiet and slow birding. I couldn't help but smile when he said, "Most real birders don't really like my style, but whoever goes on bird walks with me usually has fun!" I decided that Noah really needed to meet this man! Mr. Craig had done a special bird banding day for our YBC, but this past Saturday was a regular banding event that he does once a month. When I told Elliott about Craig and how I think it would be good for Noah to meet him we decided to make our Saturday morning excursion to attend "A Bird in the Hand".

Noah was first to release a bird. Can you see his smile?

I think he exact words were, "That was awesome!"

Caleb's first bird release, he flew off fast!

Faith has a way with birds... three birds she was able to release, all had to be convinced to leave her hand.

Grace's bird escaped quite quickly...

The teeny-tiny "coffee drinking bird" - a Ruby Crowned Kinglet - one of my favorite birds, a surprise catch in the whisper nets.

Micah got to release my favorite little bird, the bird wanted to stay... I think he wanted to come home with us, he must have heard about our coffee...

Elliott released a Vesper Sparrow

We each got to hear the heartbeat of a little Savannah Sparrow

Craig let Noah put on his little magnifiers to look at some details on the wing... Noah was hooked after this, said he wanted to come every time they do this!

This guy was a freelance photojournalist working on an article for the SA Express News. Craig asked Noah to hand him the White Crowned Sparrow to release.

We had a wonderful family morning together. I was thrilled to see Noah enjoying God's Creation, and I was thankful for God sending Craig to spark an interest in Noah, he was super excited to meet this "loud" birder. And just for fun, the photojournalist took a liking to our little family and interviewed Hannah and I... I can't wait to see his photos.