Living in an urban environment, we miss a lot. The sounds of the country, like frogs croaking, crickets chirping, and birds tweeting are something most of us rarely hear. However, here I am living in the suburbs of San Diego, and I hear all these sounds everyday.
I walk Pepper every evening just after dusk, and I can't help but notice the racket the crickets and frogs are making down at Batiquitos Lagoon. It's hard to miss when you're in a neighborhood with little traffic, but when trucks roll by the sounds of the lagoon get lost.
Recently I noticed that the tree outside my front door was covered with birds when I went outside at 7am each morning. There must be 200 brown sparrows with light yellow bellies tweeting away in the trees. They're so happy, and I'm so happy listening to them. This is the third year we've lived here, but the first year I've noticed the birds. Did they just start coming, or did I just not notice them for the past few years? They sit there and sing for about two hours, then they're gone. Where they go I do not know, but they're always back the next morning.
Bird behavior has always been a mystery to me. Where do these little songbirds go during the day? Where do they sleep? Where do they go to die? For all the millions of birds in the world, I hardly ever see a dead bird. The little sparrows with their sweet song are so much more fun to watch than the big black crows that also hang around. I hate those birds. They scare me. Many years ago we had a big black and white Akita mix dog. She had a heavy coat, and apparently the crows thought her hair would make good nest material. They would swoop down in tandem and pull hair from her back, then fly away. This mighty dog was afraid of the crows, and as a consequence, I am too. I hope my little sparrows continue to hang out in our front yard. It's such a beautiful sound with which to start the day.
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