My Spark Bird

Noel and I went to a lecture the other day on birding, hosted by a local hiking club. It was really a good talk; the speaker was very engaging and was truly excited about the subject. Plus, he as easy to listen to – so that definitely helped.

One of the terms he used that is apparently quite well known in the birding world was a “Spark Bird” meaning, the bird that first sparked your interest in birding. I had never heard that term before, but it got me to thinking.

What is my spark bird?

I’ve always had a bird feeder and have thoroughly enjoyed watching the birds visit each day. At my house in Anchorage the feeder was on the back deck. The deck was very old and dilapidated, with lichens and moss growing in patches and the fireweed grew right up through the floorboards. I always thought this made the birds more comfortable, giving them a space they could eat that was protected and more private. Each time I refilled the feeder (which was almost a daily occurrence) I would also toss some around the deck as well, and eventually the birds would walk right up to the sliding glass door just inches away from us: both me and the cats would be laying on the floor with our noses pressed up against the glass, eagerly awaiting our avian friends. This also, however, encouraged the local rodents to move in. I ended up with a serious mouse problem.

I remember one day standing by the door looking out over the fireweed and watching numerous mice running around gathering seeds and whatnot. “I seriously need to do something about that.” I thought to myself.

Just then, right in front of me, a rather large bird (large compared to my usual patrons, at least) swooped down – grabbed a mouse – and swooped up into a tree at the edge of my back yard – and proceeded to eat it! I was so shocked! I just kept squealing “Oh My Gosh! He just ATE THE MOUSE! Right in front of me!!!” And then he did it AGAIN!!! Just swooped right out of his tree – grabbed another mouse – and went back to the tree to eat it.

That time, I got a good enough look at him to be able to identify him in my birding book: a Northern Shrike.

So, yeah. I think that is my spark bird: A Northern Shrike.

The runner-up would be a Northern Goshawk.

That one came into my life several years later. We had moved into our home in Palmer, and I was upstairs working in my office/craftroom. I heard a commotion outside with all the birds in the neighborhood getting all worked up about something, so I ran to the window to see what it was. Down on the ground below I saw that a goshawk had caught himself some lunch: one of the pesky Starlings that have invaded our neighborhood.

That was pretty exciting!