My first birds of 2006 were found looking out the window right in my own
backyard. A pair of Eurasian Tree Sparrows on the Thistle feeder. Happy
New Year to all.

...Dave Faintich
Olivette, MO

-----Original Message-----
From: MO Wild Bird Forum [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
Leslie Keith Koller
Sent: Sunday, January 01, 2006 7:09 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: 1st bird of 2006

My First of January First was a beautiful Red-shouldered Hawk!

Leslie Koller
Sikeston, Missouri


----- Original Message -----
From: "Robert Fisher" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, January 01, 2006 5:43 PM
Subject: 1st bird of 2006


> There is a tradition among subscribers of BIRDCHAT that subscribers post
> the first bird each has seen on New Year's Day. My first bird was a
> Red-tailed Hawk, seen as we entered the parking lot of our church.
>
> "It gets curiouser and curiouser," Lewis Carroll might say. I somehow
> managed to drive the entire two-mile distance from my home to the church
> without seeing any other bird before I saw the hawk. Later, my wife and I
> drove from the church to an Indian Restaurant in Overland Park, KS for
> lunch. I was no longer on the lookout for birds and managed to drive 7-8
> more miles on I-435 without noticing a bird. Then a Red-tailed Hawk flew
> across the road, followed by a second Red-tailed Hawk. I began to look for

> birds again. The next bird I saw was a fourth Red-tailed Hawk. My first
> four birds for 2006 were all Red-tailed Hawks!
>
> What does this mean? There must be something auspicious about it. Come to
> think of it, the word "auspicious" is derived from the Latin words avis +
> specere, which mean "to look at birds." See
> http://dictionary.reference.com/wordoftheday/archive/2005/12/11.html.).
> This unusual New Year's Day event must be an omen of some sort.
>
> The only precedent for my experience that I can think of is the founding
> of Rome by Romulus way back when. According to legend, Romulus and his
> twin brother, Remus, engaged in a bird watching contest to divine which of

> them should found the city. Remus saw six vultures, but Romulus saw
> twelve. The city has ever since been called "Rome," not "Reme."
>
> Seeing four Red-tailed Hawks seems to me to be less portentous than seeing

> six vultures, much less twelve. Maybe I am supposed to found a new city
> park, or perhaps a McDonald's on the corner. It's hard to say.
>
> In an effort to divine the meaning of the four Red-tailed Hawks, I have
> turned to rhyme. Unfortunately, 5 minutes of intense effort at rhyming
> produced only more questions. Here they are:
>
> What's a Red-tail for
> but to soar?
>
> If God made sky
> so he could fly
> really high,
> just what does he do
> in the blue?
>
> Which brings me to the following message for all of you:
>
> May your hopes soar and your skies be blue in 2006.
>
>
> Bob Fisher
> Independence, Missouri
> [log in to unmask]
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__________________________________________________
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* Audubon Society of Missouri's *
* Wild Bird Discussion Forum *
*---------------------------------------------------------*
* To subscribe or unsubscribe, click here: *
* https://po.missouri.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mobirds-l&A=1 *
*---------------------------------------------------------*
* To access the list archives, click here: *
* http://po.missouri.edu/archives/mobirds-l.html *
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* To access the Audubon Society of Missouri Web *
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