“Hey Look At Me!” ~ Said the Eastern Towhee!!

As I was photographing a distant Great Blue Heron, while simultaneously watching for activity around the Osprey nest at a nearby pond, I heard a little noise over near my T-Bird.  There was a little bird pecking at my front tire and then he started kicking it with his toe to see if it was going flat!  ☺

Then he was on my windshield, hopping all around and pecking at the trim.  He had a white belly, orange sides and a black head.  Turns out, I had just spotted my first Eastern Towhee.  The Towhee seemed to like my T-Bird.  I think it was love at first sight, just like when I saw my first T-Bird.  

From the windshield he decided to hop down to take a look in the passenger side view mirror.  I think he was surprised to see how much bigger he looked in the mirror, until he read that objects appear closer. ☺  Either that or he was admiring what he thought was a very handsome Towhee in the mirror (himself). ☺ Or, he was watching me watch the other big birds and was trying to get my attention.  The more I think about it, I think he was vying for my attention and wanted his picture taken.

I should have taken more pictures of him, but I was a little worried that with the top off the car I might end up with a bit of a mess inside.  One of the joys of bird watching for this novice is that you never know what you might see.  I’ll end with a little poem I just had to write!  ☺

The Eastern Towhee

Never before a sound had I heard,
 of a feathered friend pecking at my black T-Bird.

Nor did I ever think I would see,
 a Towhee watching me watch an Osprey in a tree!

                                               WRB