It's a bird! It's a plane!

By Jeff Orvis

I just got back from a short trip to my spot to clear my head and gain inspiration – our screened-in porch. I was only out there for about two minutes before a gold finch flew in and perched on our feeder. He sat there eating for a couple of minutes, then as if he realized he should sing for his supper, he began a two or three minute concert.

I could never figure out how to describe a bird call in print. But it was beautiful and I'm sure it was much more meaningful to his brothers and sisters flying around in the area. He was probably calling, “Hey dummies! Lunch is over here!”

Mom's condo is less than a mile away from Davenport's busy 53^rd Street and about the same distance from Interstate 80. But it's also a driveway and a building away from the Crow Valley Golf Club, so we get a variety of winged wildlife coming in for a free meal at all times of the year.

Before Homeland Security got into the necessary act of making air travel and even going to the airport less fun than it once was, I liked going out to the local airport just to watch the planes take off and land. Most of the planes out there were private, single engine or twin-engine aircraft. Once in awhile you might see a corporate jet. The airlines serving our area generally bring twin-engine jets into Moline, although in recent years, improvements to the runways have allowed for the occasional visit by the President's Air Force One 747.

Our neighborhood is the feathered equivalent to our local airport. We have our share of gold finches, sparrows, chickadees, etc., similar to the single engine private planes. We also have some corporate jets – robins and cardinals come to mind. The smaller airlines – mourning doves, blue jays and starlings are also well represented. Then sometimes a 747 or B-52 comes flying over in the winged form of our red-tailed hawk. He doesn't ever get close enough to feed, but then we don't offer baby rabbits or ground squirrels at our feeder. Hawks couldn't make it on finch food!

The only time I've seen the wide bodies locally was a few minutes ago when I checked out Alcoa's Eagle Cam. Dad was busy feeding the three youngsters last time I checked. They're starting to get their feathers and aren't quite as ugly as they once were.

Most of our time is consumed by worrying about the world situation, our political fights here at home, the economy or worrying about whether the Black Hawks can force a game seven in the NHL playoffs or if the Cubs can get their act together this year. Sometimes it's nice to take a deep breath and watch some of God's creatures whose only cares include where they will get their next meal, how they can avoid predators and which tree will they fly to next.

The simpler life is sometimes appealing...