For the Birds

While listening to bird songs on the Internet, I realized one recent day before the prolonged heat set in that I was hearing a house finch on my computer, as well as outside the open window.  It was fun to hear the call and response between the two, wondering if the bird outside was somehow attempting to communicate with the bird inside my computer.  In my quest to become more knowledgeable about our area's feathered friends this summer, I've not limited my education to their sounds.  I've also been working to identify more of them by sight.  During one evening walk at Devil's Lake State Park, I saw some shiny bluish-black birds with brown heads in a little cluster on the edge of a wooded area.  Could they be brown-headed cowbirds, I wondered? I'll never be an ornithologist, but I'm enjoying my attempts to expand my understanding and identification of the many delightful birds that break through the everyday sounds with their glorious song.