How about those birds?

If this were a rock concert or something really sensational featuring a star of the magnitude of, I'm gonna say, Luke Bryan, I would ask right now, "Washington DEEE CEEEEEE! How ya doing?"

Washington DC is about 45 miles from where we live, and it might as well be 45,000 thousand miles, for as often as we go to America's Shining Capitol City On A Hill. Don't get me wrong, I love plenty of people who live down there and in the suburbs surrounding the District, but there always seems to be some sort of commotion happening in the capitol, some heavy business that I can do without. On the other hand, the last time we went, we saw Fonzie's leather jacket and Archie Bunker's easy chair in the Smithsonian, so there's that!

And now, people are flocking (!) to DC to see something even cooler than Dick Clark's "American Bandstand" dais...certainly more colorful...Look up in the sky! It's a bird!

The article I read said that "excited birders" (and is there any other kind?) are wedging into the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park, along the Potomac River, just northwest of DC.  The big attraction is the presence of a painted bunting, a vibrant colorful bird who usually hangs around in Florida. 

There's a birder site called eBird, and as soon as someone saw a painted bunting at that park, they tweeted (couldn't resist) about it and now people are going to the park the way they ran down to BJs last spring when the word got out that the big box retailer had a fresh shipment of paper towels, tee pee, and Lysol Wipes. 

One of the birdwatchers was Jacques Pitteloud, who, as we all know, is Switzerland’s ambassador to the US. “To see it close to DC, that was absolutely unrealistic,” Pitteloud told the Washington POST. He added that he has been chasing birds with binoculars since he was a boy, and this bird was “exceptional.”

It's a male bird that they're seeing. You know that in Bird World, it's the guys who put on the flashy plumage, to attract the females, who are thrilled to see a guy who knows how to match his bright blue head, red tummy and green and red slashes on his back. The females are green all over, probably from envy.

I must say, the painted bunting reminds me of Little Richard in all his glory!

These birds are about 5in in length, their favorite dinner is seeds and insects, and build their nests in heavy green growth. And just like every living being, and Mitch McConnell, they are affected by climate change. A lot of birds are moving north as it gets really hot down south. “Climate change is disrupting hundreds of bird species, and thanks to community scientists all across the country, we can visualize these disruptions in real time and plan conservation efforts accordingly,” is how Sarah Saunders, a quantitative ecologist at Audubon, puts it.

So it's a bad sign for the climate of Earth, but a good sign for those who don't want to drive to Florida and have breakfast at a Waffle House just to see a painted bunting. New neighbors are coming our way! Let's welcome them.