Caregiver’s Toolbox

I’ve been fascinated by birds for as long as I can remember. As a child in New Jersey, birdsong woke me almost every day in spring and summer. In Califiornia, hummingbirds regularly visited my back yard. In Texas, I had regular visits from bluejays and cardinals and a family of doves who liked to nest in the birdfeeder. Now that I live on Florida’s Nature Coast, my birdwatching has expanded. A flock of ibis regularly struts through my neighborhood like a gang of street thugs, a family of cardinals is nesting in my crepe myrtle, eagles (including bald eagles!) are everywhere, and the shore birds are a marvel to watch – egrets, herons, sand pipers, seagulls, and sandhill cranes are at every beach, and most of our neighborhood ponds.