Bird week

This was an amazing week for a recent convert to bird watching. I saw a striking bird in a cherry tree in North Portland that I thought was a Western Tanager--checked with the Dean of Humanities, birding guru, and learned they're migrating through the region and are everywhere, and so plausible to see even in the city. Rechecked the picture in my bird guide, felt sure, then spotted two more on campus. Now I'll know it when I see it. Checked a Spotted Towhee on the ground near the daycare center at Clark. Black top, white spots on the wings, orange sides just under, and white belly. Also, we replaced our furnace with a new one and our old chimney is now non-functional, and a big family of swifts is living in it for the third summer in a row. One can sit at the back of our yard and watch them circle and swoop into the chimney; once they have babies, ca. early June, the cheeping of the young is audible from my pantry (behind which is the chimney) whenever the adults come home to feed the babies. It is pretty great to have a habitat house--and the swifts live on airborne insects, so we can barbecue without fear of mosquitoes.