Mary Ann Williams' Spark Bird Story

I got my birding start when my husband and I retired and moved to Nampa in 1997. I was amazed at the variety of birds I saw in my yard and the fly overs of hawks and Great Blue Herons. The Idaho Press Tribune had an article of an organizing meeting for a new birdwatching group - The Southwestern Idaho Birders Association. The meeting was at Skyview High School in the classroom of Fred Hill. There were a large group of interested people including the founder, Nettie Smoot, who was our first president. I will also remember Fred’s classroom with a very large display of taxidermy birds which now can be view at the Deer Flat Visitor’s meeting room. This first meeting sparked my interest in the local birds.

I was born and raised in San Francisco and all remember about birds I saw were House Sparrows, various Gulls and Pigeon Doves. In 1965 we moved to Alaska and my yard birds were Red Polls in the winter and American Robins and Dark-eyed Juncos in the summer. Pelagic birds were noted in Prince William Sound and Cook Inlet and along with the Auks, puffins and kittiwakes. In 1993, we moved back to San Francisco and saw Anna’s Hummingbirds for the first time flying through the back yards in the city.

Birding field trips and SIBA monthly meetings have increased my knowledge of local Idaho birds. I note birds in a journal that I see when traveling locally and abroad and also in my yard, garden and in my daily walks. I associate birds with their environments but I really enjoy seeing the migrating birds in the Spring and Fall. This week, I saw a House Wren in my side yard for the first time in my lilac bush. My favorite local bird is the Great Blue Heron who is so eloquent and displays such grace.

Great Blue Heron