Indigo Bunting

Over the past few years in the quest to become a healthier me, I have discovered an activity that I actually really enjoy (besides watching my husband garden). Walking! Really love walking through parks with my husband, and at times, my friends. One of my good friends, Donna, and I have started walking each week as a way to see each other and talk about our families and not do it while sitting on the couch or out at a restaurant  eating stuff I just don’t need.

While walking at the Western Regional Park in Glenwood, Maryland this past Sunday, we saw the prettiest bird just singing his little heart out way up in the trees. Both of us stopped and watched him and of course pulled out our cell-phone cameras and started taking photos until he flew away.

Wondering what type of bird he was, we continued on around the park and came upon two gentlemen loaded up with binoculars and high-power cameras. “Are you bird watching?” I asked, not being able to just walk on by.   “We sure are,” came the reply. I said: “Well, you need to go over to the other side of the park because we just saw an indigo bunting up in a tree,” and proceeded to show him our photos.   He said he had seen them in the past at the park since they are typically around late May and early June. He then pulled out HIS cell phone (where would we all be without them?) and clicked on an app that played the sounds they make.  He was duly impressed with my cell phone photography.  As we walked away, Donna asked me just how in the world I knew the name of the bird…It just came to me. I had suddenly remembered our Old World bird ornaments in the Christmas shop last season, and darned if we didn’t sell indigo bunting bird ornaments.

There is always something new to see in the parks or ever around our own home when walking.  Sometime I will have to tell you about the den of little baby foxes behind our property that my father-in-law watches each day as they grow bigger and bigger.

by Stephanie Fleming, Behnke’s Vice President