Birds + Bats + Kids

My dad has always loved birds.  He notices them everywhere he goes and can call them by name.  As a kid, I thought this was something to continually roll my eyes about.  Peregrine Falcon on the lightpost outside the gas station!  Did you see it?  Umm, no dad.  Cue the rolling eyeballs. 

Then I grew up, had a few kids, and for some inexplicable reason, I started noticing birds.  I could even call a few by name.  I caught myself buying bird books at the bookstore, learning how to call a few more by name.  Yesterday, with a line of cars honking behind me, I stopped traffic to snap a cell phone picture of an incredible Red Tailed Hawk perched just off the side of the road.  Did you see it kids? 

Umm, I get it now dad.

Recently, I took the girls and a few friends to the Rio Grande's Bird and Bat Festival.  They may still roll their eyes at me yet, but they thought those rescued birds were as interesting as I did.  They also brought home pockets full of sticks, rocks, and clumps of "really cool" mossy dirt.  On the way home, Esme confided from the backseat, "I wish I could live outside by the river."  And this nature-loving Mama grinned all the way home.