Happy April, my nature-loving friends, and welcome to spring. Ken Hall, aka Bird Nut, here.
I often struggle to come up with a subject over the winter months, but for April the opposite is true. Nature wakes up, the celebration is on—it’s time to party. It is an incredible month to get outdoors. Birds are singing. Flowers are blooming. Grass is greening. Leaves are cycling into a whole new season of beauty.
Here is a quote from Rachel Carson’s book The Sense of Wonder: “There is symbolic as well as actual beauty in the migration of birds, the ebb and flow of the tides, the folded bud ready for the spring. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature—the assurance that dawn comes after the night, and spring after the winter.”
An outstanding book—I could not have said it better myself. In it, she emphasizes the importance of never losing our sense of wonder in nature and of nurturing the natural curiosity of children about all that exists right outside our door. I would go beyond limiting this to children. Feed that curiosity in anyone who may not have been exposed to the immense beauty of the natural world. I meet many of these folks in my wanderings. They want to know. Share the knowledge you have, or immerse yourself in learning more. Even in my senior years, I learn something new each time I’m out.
When my daughters were young—before cell phones—they had a natural curiosity during our wanderings about what they were seeing. But, as with all children, they would sometimes become bored and lose interest. This is where a bit of parental deception comes in. I would come up with games. Once, I bought a pocketful of fake obsidian arrowheads. As we wandered, I shared stories of the Native Americans who once lived there—all the while dropping arrowheads along the way. On our return trip, I’d mention keeping an eye out for arrowheads. It didn’t take long before they were full of excitement again, back on task and leaving boredom on the trail behind them.
I would also take them for short drives to the hills, telling them about all the wildlife we might see and offering a prize for the first animal spotted. It wasn’t long before my daughter Shelley excitedly pointed out what she thought were donkeys. Knowing there were no donkeys in that area, I turned around to discover she had spotted several mule deer. So off to Dairy Queen we went. Soft-hearted me gave a prize to each of my three girls.
To this day, my girls have never lost their love of nature—and they’ve passed that love on to my grandchildren.
April is a wonderful time to nurture your own interest—or someone else’s—in the beauty God has given us. There are many parks within easy driving distance. Some offer miles of trails to wander; others have areas that require little or no walking at all. There is something for everyone, regardless of physical ability. For young parents, take your children for a walk. Bring a bird book and binoculars if you have them. Turn the phones off and watch the magic happen.
Now, staying with my “bird nut” theme—if you love the color yellow, get ready. We should begin to see the arrival of yellow warblers, yellow-rumped warblers, western tanagers, Bullock’s orioles, common yellowthroats, goldfinches and the ever-beautiful cedar waxwings. If you see any of these, tag me in the Birds of Colorado or Bird Friends of Colorado Facebook groups. The best part of being a bird nut is recruiting new bird nuts.
Hope to see you on the trail. God bless.
