Eyes Up and Ears Open

When I worked as an intern at the Indianapolis Museum of Art I caught a glimpse of brilliant red fly high in the oak trees above me. The gardener I was with told me it was a Scarlet Tanager, a bird very rare to the Museum grounds. He told me, “Always keep your eyes up and your ears open.” You never know when you’re going to see a Scarlet Tanager again.
Before working at the Museum, I didn’t listen to the difference in birdsongs and I definitely didn’t spend time looking up in trees trying to identify birds not only by color but by flight pattern. To me, just about all birds were Cardinals, Blue Jays, Red-winged black birds or LBJs (Little Brown Jobs). I had no appreciation for the art of bird watching. But I learned…
Fast forward a little more than 10 years and now we have Vivi. If she’s scared of anything, it’s the owls outside her window hooting at night. Josh tried calming her fears by finding owl calls on the internet and showing her pictures of different types of owls. I think this has helped her with her owl fear.
Josh also played some other birdsongs for her including the Cardinal. Yesterday, Vivi and I were outside and she heard a bird. She said, “Mommy, it’s a Cardinal!” I looked around and saw nothing. “I’m not sure Viv. I don’t see one.” Then it called again. “Yes, Mommy. That’s a Cardinal. I hear it.” So it was.
So tonight, I told Josh about how Vivi identified a Cardinal. He played some more birdsongs for the girls. While they were listening they looked out the window to our backyard and saw a Scarlet Tanager. I wasn’t in the room and didn’t see it. But a little while later, it came back. At first glance you might mistake it for a Cardinal, but it’s so much more brilliant.
Seeing beautiful birds like the Scarlet Tanager or Indigo Bunting out in nature going about their own business is so lovely. I hope to past that love down to Vivi and Val so that they have a head start on their mama and don’t have to go around calling everything LBJs.