Birding time!

Right around Thanksgiving in the U.S. is when the birds really start to show up around here, though they have been arriving more each day.

It's a great thing to see, especially at breakfast in the rancho, when there are all kinds of them fluttering around and trying to dart in and out to get some fruit before someone bigger comes along.

There are robins, sparrows, orioles, tanagers, creepers, woodpeckers, etc., all vying for some chow.

There are also feeding stations at each tree house, so the guests can enjoy the birds before they head down for breakfast.

We were never much into birds until we moved down here and the enthusiasm of so many guests sparked our collective interest as well. We have had a lot of amateur birders that could identify each species that came down, and even a professor of ornithology at Harvard that was bowled over at how many birds he was seeing on the grounds.

There has been a movie looping on one of the movie channels down here, called "The Big Year." It has Jack Black, Steve Martin and Owen Wilson in it, and it is based on the chase to see who can spot or hear the most birds in North America, annually. Great cast, great movie, though it wasn't a big box-office hit. Check it out sometime and catch the bird fever (not the flu).