Chirp Chirp: The Big Year

If you're in the mood for some feathery fluff of the happy-sappy-and-not-wholly-unpleasant sort and need a break from snark, there is The Big Year.

This weirdly whimsical family comedy about competitive birders stars Jack Black, Owen Wilson and Steve Martin, and, yes, the humor is exactly as nerdy as that sounds.

---Los Angeles Times movie review

"The movie I want to see is a Steve Martin movie about birders," Bill announced to me yesterday.  Usually, when Bill picks out a movie, it's a good one. Usually, they're about musicians, like Mr. Holland's Opus or the one about the reporter and the homeless man found to be a gifted musician. 

This one, though, is about birds, and I know why yesterday's story in the Spokesman-Review outdoor section garnered instant interest from my husband.

He's been enjoying our living-room window bird show as much as I have.

The feeders have been hanging from a stand just outside the window to the south.

That's in a direct line from where I put my shoes on and take more time tying my shoelaces than usual these days.

Bill never said much when I announced several days ago that I wanted a feeder or two near the windows to make the winter go faster.  

I looked for standing feeders, but when none were available at the local stores, I figured out my own method.  

Nail a board up high on a treated post.  Stick the post in our extra Christmas tree holder, load it down with rocks, and "presto!"

We were in business.  

I had also bought a new redwood feeder, complete with suet cages on the side. I hung the feeders on the board and even put in a top plate filled with peanuts, just in case that lone blue jay which occasionally hangs out here showed up. 

I figured squirrels may find their way up there too, but dogs kinda keep them limited to the trees. 

All week both of us have delighted in viewing first one chickadee, than two, then a dozen or so, followed by the onslaught of finches of many colors.

We've had time to learn, from our new up close and personal avian voyeurism, that chicadees aka "cheeeezeburger birds" are peck-and-run" eaters, while finches are happy to gather en masse in the feeder for several helpings at once. 

I'm still waiting to see a woodpecker, as we have dozens that hang around here in the winter time. 

Yesterday I spotted one of our doves---not yet at the bird feeder---but close enough to conjure up hopes of seeing the pretty bird right outside the window. 

We've already derived great enjoyment, and, like any new activity, there's always a desire to enhance the show we've already experienced.

My little pea brain is in planning mode again---how I can set up makeshift feeders near the other two living-room windows.  

That may not work unless I can get the feeder and its accessories completely under the eaves, cuz snow rolls off from the roof and crashes to the deck. 

Wouldn't want to be responsible for any birdie fatalities, resulting from our enjoyable viewing indoors. 

So, I'll keep thinking about that. 

For now, it looks like Bill and I have a movie to attend.  We'll save it for one of these upcoming dreary winter days----when he's not working, of course.

I figure a dose of Steve Martin, Owen Wilson, Jack Black and a whole lot of birds ought to be the perfect antidote for the winter doldrums.

They have not yet arrived, and it's looking like a great weather week ahead, so I'll enjoy watching the birds outdoors too.

Happy Monday.