Morning Bird Pic

I saw this strikingly-headed little fellow on the ground below the feeder: a white-crowned sparrow.

A musing...

Since Denise and I put up the bird feeder in the back yard, and since I’ve been taking pictures of our visitors there, I’ve realized that in the past I never truly *saw* birds. I don’t mean that they were invisible to me, but with the exception of a few distinctive species (cardinals, robins, and goldfinches, for example), I would see only a generic 'bird.' Now that I’ve been actually watching the birds coming to the feeder, I’m realizing how much I’ve missed: all the species, the subtle markings, the gender differentiations, the seasonal variations, the different calls, the distinctive behaviors and traits. When I see birds now, I see them differently. More individually. I can identify some species just from a glimpse. I deliberately observe them to see their differences.

Which makes me wonder: to what other aspects of the world around me have I been similarly blind? Where else have I simply not been paying attention, and thus missing too much?

Something to ponder.