Obsession, and an Every Day Treasure Hunt

Hmmmm....I just noticed something.

According to the dictionary definition, "obsession" is not a good thing.

That's too bad.  Because I consider myself to be obsessed by many different things.  Maybe I need to find a new word, so you think I'm okay.  I know I'm okay, so it doesn't really matter.  But I'll find a "good" synonym.

Infatuation?

Idee fixe?  ( I like this one because I can say ee-day feeks, and you might think I know some French. Or maybe you don't believe it.  You are wise.)

Maybe I'll just be musical and say in my life there are some common motifs or themes.

There....THAT doesn't sound obsessive at all.

BIRDS!

A continuing theme....I would say almost an ostinato....or maybe definitely an ostinato.

Yep.  Birds are an every day treasure hunt.  For so many reasons. There is always a bird that you haven't seen. There are nearly 400 bird species to be discovered in the UP.  I only have 180 birds on my life list.  Isn't that awesome?  Not to mention the fact that a lot of the birds on my life list are ones I'm probably not going to see in the UP.  Like the Bobolink.  Or a White-faced Ibis. Or a Cinnamon Teal.

But why am I obsessed? I thought about this yesterday and today, when a bird I've only seen once in my life, and then from a distance, came flying in in a great gallup (yep, it's a thing) of Common Redpolls to devour every seed they could pack into their little 13 cm bodies.

girl redpoll

boy redpoll

snow nose

messy eater

intense staring

even more intense

more messy eaters

beautiful boy

pretty little girl

Probably obsessive, huh...that I took many, many pictures of these little guys to get these  nice (at least I think so) shots of them.  What personalities they have!  I haven't even begun to capture that here.

So, multiply all the personality times almost 400, and then I think you can see something about what I strive to see and to capture in my bird pictures.  Because every kind of bird has its own personality:

From stoic daytime owls

Barred Owl

To flirty begging-for-food ducks

boy Mallard in non-breeding plumage

To grumpy hummingbirds

because whenever a hummingbird lands, it is 100 times cuter

To serene swans

because cynets

To majestic eagles

not majestic...more like LEAVE ME BE

To grazing goldfinches

pretending to be a nuthatch

To exotic ibises

Dunlins (with black bellies) are cool, too

To energetic butterbutts

prefers to be called Mr. Yellow-rumped Warbler

To cocky cardinals

pretending to be a goldfinch

To mischievous jays

I enjoy a peanut

To skulking pheasants

they think they're wearing camo...silly boys

To teeny weeny nuthatches

doesn't have to pretend

To gorging grosbeaks

the crab apples are mine, MINE, I tell you!

To lonesome loons

I have never seen two loons...they must get together sometime....

To schooling snow buntings

more than two

To store-watching gulls

unfortunately, Pamida closed a long time ago

To racing-striped sparrows

thinks he's sexy

To stalking cranes

knows it

To glaring merlins

go away

To greedy waxwings

thank goodness for gizzards

To comical chickadees

is what he is

To fledging bluebirds

because. baby

To babyish wrens

ditto

To spotted flickers

polka dots are a fashion statement

To omnivorous ravens

don't look too close, you don't want to know

To camouflaged snowys

look closely

To a gaggle of geese

as I said

To a bunch of baby ducks

BABIES!!!

And there we are.  Approximately 7% of why I love and adore and am transfixed and obsessed by birds.  Why they are a theme, a motif and a daily ostinato of the music of my life. If that were my only obsession, I would be worried....but....evil laugh....I have so many more!!!

It's what makes my life exciting and new every day!

So go out...get obsessed by something fun and creative. 

I dare you.