Missing/Enjoying: Birds...

One of highlights of every phone call, Facetime, or Skype, with our loved ones back in Australia is the birds in the background. They come through clearest when we're catching up with my parents (aka Granny and Pop), probably because my parents in a quiet and well treed part of the country.

And it reminds Michael and I of our old home in Brisbane where we would get currawongs and kookaburras (and native crows, which are much more annoying than the ones here in Manhattan). And we miss them.

When we arrived here, 11 months ago, we had no idea how transient the birds would be over the course of the year: We didn't know that the red cardinals and blue jays would disappear, or that we would see Canadian geese flying overhead (yep, that's them in the first picture and yes they make a loud honking noise as they fly). The turkey vultures flew south for the winter and we have seen other large birds in the sky too. But American robins have been constant and the European starlings have been around all winter too (but they're a pest...). And the little Cedar waxwings are just what winter calls for: yellow. Most of these birds here don't have pretty calls or loud laughs, but they are wonderful nonetheless...

So, in celebration of birds that call Manhattan, KS, their home and those that visit, here are some recent-ish pictures Michael and I have taken of locally found birds:

Starlings in tree #2...

Close up of a cold starling...

Startled starlings...

Cedar waxwings are the best...

The robins are pretty too...

The snow has all gone, but the crabapple still attracts birds with its old fruit. We hear them tweeting away some mornings, and hear the occasional woodpecker searching for grubs. Spring is upon us and we're quite taken with how distinct the changing of the seasons is - it's a nice distraction from our homesickness.