National See An American Kestrel Day

Did you know that January 5 was National Bird Day?  You didn't?  What kind of birding slacker are you???!?

Well, truth to tell, I didn't know it, either, until someone pointed it out on an online birding group.  Of course, this meant I had to go outside and see a bird.  Maybe even more than one.  But FIRST, I had to check in with the Hounds on this whole "National Whatever Floats Your Boat Day" business that has gotten out of control.  Because naturally, they wanted to know if there was a National Dachshund Day.

After all, there is a National Chocolate Covered Raisins Day (March 24), a Lost Sock Memorial Day (May 9), and an International Sloth Day (October 20).  So I looked it up, and sure enough, JULY 23 (mark your calendar) is National Hot Dog Day -- and they don't mean the bun-with-mustard kind.  This article about dachshund day even has a photo of a Truman lookalike.  Now you know. 

The Hounds and I went out three days in a row this week, the first on January 4 to the Chamna Natural Preserve, and we looked for birds even though it wasn't National Bird Day yet.

We saw juncos and sparrows and ducks and gulls and geese and whatnot, and then we came upon this bird:

This is a Northern Harrier.  It's a good-sized raptor which I've seen lots over on the western side of the state, but this is the first time I've seen one since moving back to the east side.  I was best pleased.

We also saw a really big rock (dachshund provided for scale).

The next day, on actual National Bird Day, we went out to a different spot, Columbia Point. 

We looked for birds again, and found this delightful little raptor, the American Kestrel:

We also found a lot of smaller rocks (dachshund provided for scale).

Here we are at the end of the walk, when we turn around to head back towards the parking lot and the car.  Truman, who hates to walk away from the car, is always motivated to return.

The next day, January 6, was National Bean Day.  We did not look for beans.  Instead, we went to the Columbia Riverfront Trail's northernmost point to look for birds, and there we found a lot more rocks.

I belatedly discovered that today, January 7, is National Old Rock Day.  Go figure.  Here is an old rock that we found, sadly, on Bean Day (dachshund provided for scale):

We also found a lovely trail down to the river, which the Hounds thoroughly explored.

And then I spotted another American Kestrel!

Could it be the same one we saw the other day?  This was about seven miles away from the first one.  How large is a kestrel's territory?  Well, I have no idea, but isn't that what the Internet is for?  Yes, it is, and the Internet tells me that a kestrel's typical territory size is one-half square mile.  I'm thinking I saw two different kestrels on two different days.  Whee!

Since January 6, when I saw a kestrel, is National Bean Day -- an utterly idiotic thing to celebrate unless you happen to be a bean farmer -- and since January 5, when I also saw a kestrel, is already Bird Day, I hereby declare a renaming of January 6 to National See An American Kestrel Day. 

And perhaps there should also be a National Dachshund Run Back Towards the Car Day, to boot.

Which would pretty much be every day we go out.