My Bird Watching Season Opener

About mid-March, I like to clean and refill my thistle feeders in our backyard. Soon after, our backyard becomes a favorite little haven for the goldfinches for about a month or so, and then they move on and leave the seeds for the cardinals and mourning doves. I was looking out back just today thinking about the coming of the goldfinches when I saw a truly amazing sight...the largest woodpecker I've ever seen in my life was perched on our wooden fence. His head was bobbing up, down and around as he worked over a little piece of our fence. I called for Kristin, and she came over and exclaimed, "he's large enough to eat!" I then said, I've got to get a pic of this fellow if he'll let me. I went back to my room to get my camera, and then as quietly as I could manage, opened the back screen and slipped outside. It was drizzling just a little as I crept across the yard toward the back fence. I turned my camera on, and started trying to close in with my zoom before he caught sight of me. He darted to a nearby tree and quickly positioned himself opposite of where I was standing. I saw the red tuft peek out to the side as he surveyed my position, then he pulled back before I could get the shot. Finally he sailed over to another tree and I caught a blurry image as soon as he gripped the side of the tree. He then darted to another tree and I got a little shot of him searching the branch for a meal.

When I got back to the computer, I loaded the pics up, and did a quick search to determine what kind of woodpecker I'd just seen. Only one kind of woodpecker on the page even resembled him...the ivory billed woodpecker. I clicked on it to read more, and to my shock read that this variety of woodpecker was thought to be extinct until 1999, and that definitive proof of their existence, until recently, was still elusive! What's more, it said that this kind of woodpecker was the 2nd largest woodpecker in the world. I was a little more than excited by the prospect that I had seen something so rare. I told Kristin, and she called her knowledgeable friend, Amanda. Kristin was sure that her friend would have good insight since she had extensively studied birds, insects and was basically a walking naturalist's handbook. Amanda was driving near our home; she gasped and immediately re-charted her course to our house upon hearing about the possibility of such a rare sighting. While on her way, she suggested that I look up the pileated woodpecker, just so we could rule it out. By the time she arrived, I had just about come to grips with the fact that our visitor was indeed the pileated woodpecker as she suspected...beautiful and uncommon, yes; critically endangered, no. Still, it's not everyday that I get to uncover a mystery in my own backyard. I hope he lives nearby and visits often during the upcoming finch season. Who knows, maybe next time he'll bring along an ivory billed pal.

Low Country Coin Show

With the coin show out at the Ladson fair grounds, it's been tough trying to work the past couple of days. Fortunately, I can at least claim the "cool Dad" title even if the flipside is near dereliction of duty regarding my business route. One of the merit badges I earned as a young scouter was the Coin Collection Merit Badge, and it was one of those things that expanded my appreciation for our currency and the feel of history that just lingers on old coins. It can be a very expensive hobby. Literally thousands of dollars are on display at these shows, but for me the intrinsic value has never been the draw. I like to hold the coin in my hand, study its artful design and worn lines and spaces, and just imagine what the world was like when it was made. One of my favorites is this old worn large cent minted in 1822. You can barely read the date, and the face of Liberty is worn smooth and almost flat. The value is degraded because of the wear, but when I hold it, I like to think that Thomas Jefferson was still alive when it was minted. The nation was young, and the sun was still rising on our Republic. Abraham Lincoln was just 13 years old at the time, and could've labored long in the sun for that very penny. Every human alive on earth at the minting of that penny has long since passed away, and still it lives on held in yet another American's hand.

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This weekend, Nathan started his own collection. He put some of his Christmas money in his wallet, and went to the show with me. While we were there, we had the special treat of meeting the show's guest of honor, a remarkable Abe Lincoln look-alike. It was perfect since this President's Day we celebrate Lincoln's 200th birthday. We posed for photos and Nathan bought 102 foreign coins at .10 cents a piece. We spent the evening logging and labeling the nations and dates in a catalog. He bought a complete set of WWII nickels, two Buffalo Nickels and an Ike silver dollar. We got two of the states quarters catalogs, and went through a roll of quarters filling in as many as we could find. He learned a little about grading the coins, and a little about the minting locations, and maybe even caught a little of that wonder that I felt when I was his age. All in all I think I've almost earned Coin Collecting Merit Badge all over again, and Nathan has come a long way towards it himself! Best of all, we can chalk up another weekend of discovering more about each other while we discover the world around us.