It’s blue, it’s a bird, but it’s not a bluebird

You’d think it would be rather tough to swallow, but you’d think wrong.

I mean, I waited, and I watched with camera in hand, and a blue bird finally appeared. I almost leaped out of my skin. I thought it was a bluebird, but it was some other blue bird. Nature photographer Sal Sgroi thinks it most likely is a swallow. (Unbelievable color, though. Try and imagine that classic 1970-ish Chevrolet Camaro midnight blue metallic paint. And I thought nothing in nature could be that color.)

I am willing to concede there are blue birds. I’ve seen enough of them. There are blue jays and the blue things I took pictures of at the Spring Migration Festival, but I have yet to see the blue-highlighted robin-looking things sketched out in the field guides.

I’ve decided to go back to reptile watching. I can do it in my living room, I know what I’m looking at and I don’t have to build them little wooden houses.

Which brings me back to my crusade against the timber industry.

I was reading the Marcellus Observer last week, one of our very own Eagle Newspaper publications, and found an ad for…you won’t believe this…a workshop at Baltimore Woods’ Center for Nature Education aimed at attracting woodland fairies.

Of course, no workshop is complete without a hands-on activity, so attendees will - take a wild guess! - build a fairy house. The article reads:

“Participants will build Fairy Houses, receive materials believed effective in attracting fairies and take home a genuine sample of what the professor believes to be authentic fairy dust. Learn how the Fairies protect the plants and animals of the woods, how they alter their appearances and how they typically spend their time in the woods.”

Of course, this little soiree is scheduled for May 17 - the very time my son will be walking the stage to the tune of “Pomp and Circumstance.” Like THAT wasn’t intentional. Give me a break.

So much for the Great Swamp Conservancy Spring Migration Festival challenge. But surprises were in store a few days later.

Reprinted courtesy Eagle Newspapers, Syracuse, New York.