MarLa Sink Druzgal

I didn’t become bird-obsessed until we moved to our house in a rural area of Pennsylvania. There I would take my writing outside and work on a project while surrounded by birds. On our few acres, we have a varied habitat: woods (deciduous and hardwood); meadow; wetland.

Our feeders were always active with finches, Black-capped Chicadees, Tufted Titmice, Northern Cardinals, Downey and Red-bellied Woodpeckers. The nearby trees, brush and ground always held Pileated Woodpeckers, Cedar Waxwings, Indigo Buntings, robins, and sparrows. At night I sometimes played owl calls on my laptop to try to bring in a Barred Owl (nearly crapped myself when he flew within a meter of me!), Screech Owls and the neighborhood Great Horned Owl.

I always got excited with the change of seasons and migration time, when our house finches were offset by purple finches, and Carolina Wrens joined our House Wrens. Carolina Wrens are Kurt’s favorite, with their brushed white eyebrow and perky, upbeat call.

It will be exciting when we return to visit and enjoy our favorites again, but I’m also enjoying adding to my favorites here, including the strange-calling Grey Go-away Bird (aka the Grey Lourie, Grey Loerie, or Kwêvoël).

If Kurt doesn’t eat all his weekly apples and they begin to go bad, I simply spear one on the clever bird feeder my South African friend, Claire gave me as a house-warming present. It doesn’t take long before one of our resident Louries finds the fruit, and in no time a few of these crested grey beauties finish it off.

Happy Over-the-Hump Day, friends!

Love, Marla

P.S. The call of a Grey Go-away bird is not for everyone. I find it kind of charming and can imitate it almost perfectly now, much to Kurt’s dismay. I won’t share my imitation, but here’s a much more entertaining, and strange, video I came across on You Tube while looking for the call of a Grey Go-Away Bird: