It was an ordinary day. Reading a story shared by Kim Klugh telling how her grandson shared his birding adventure with her. Chickadees. Tufted titmice. Red-winged blackbirds. Male and female cardinals. Kim observed all these birds in her Lancaster backyard and neighborhood. However, on a recent trip to visit her daughter and her family in Ann Arbor, Michigan this past spring, she was able to do more than merely watch birds in their natural habitat. Her grandson had shared with her, prior to the visit, that his first-grade class had visited Kensington Metropark the previous winter, where he had a unique experience. Knowing how much I enjoy birdwatching, Theo explained that, at this park, a variety of birds landed on his fingers and ate seeds from his cupped hand. My daughter, who had not accompanied Theo on his class field trip, was not entirely sold on the legitimacy of his account. It was during the winter when Theo's class had visited the park and perhaps the birds were a little more likely to trust a free handout, but she wasn't sure how it would go when we visited the same spot during late spring. Ever hopeful, my husband, our daughter, our grandson and I placed a small bag of birdseed in the car, applied sunscreen and donned our hiking caps for the birding adventure. As soon as we arrived at the Metropark and parked the car, we were met by a sandhill crane trotting through the area. Now, if you've never seen a sandhill crane in the wild, their proximity can be slightly intimidating; we were definitely not there to feed them! As we began our trek through the park, we spotted chipmunks on the path that did not quickly scurry from sight. In fact, I couldn't believe how close we were able to get to them. Up to this point, my experience with chipmunks had been that as soon as I spied one, it was usually gone from sight. The four of us walked on until we got to a bridge from which we could observe a significant collection of blue heron nests built in the tops of a cluster of tall trees. We watched these birds skim over the water and listened to their loud calls. It was at this spot that my grandson asked for some birdseed. He then extended his arm with the seed in cupped hand, and within 30 seconds, a red-winged blackbird perched on his fingers and took some seed. I was enthralled. I immediately asked for some seed so I could copy his behavior. "Marmie," instructed Theo, "remember, don't smile at the birds when they land on you cause your teeth will scare them!" I followed his advice, and within a short time, a female cardinal was taking seeds from my hand after lighting on my finger. Meanwhile, chipmunk were suddenly at our feet, scooping up seeds that had fallen from our hands. We remained at this spot for a while, feeding an assortment of chickadees, a tufted titmouse, re-winged blackbirds, a nuthatch, a downy woodpecker and male and female cardinals. We moved further along the bridge, as the birds kept returning to eat the seed from our hands. I felt as if I had stumbled into a magical forest; the twittering bird-song from Disney's "Snow White" movie came to mind. Theo had certainly not exaggerated his experience, and I was delighted that he had chosen to share this special birding encounter with his grandparents. The author lives in Lancaster. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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