A Mysterious New Bird?

This is a story that I've been wanting to tell for over a month. This happened when I made my first visit to a nature park back then. But it was only a few days later that my dad died, so I put everything on hold for awhile. But now the story of my mysterious new bird can be told!

I had been out exploring the strange and different new trails of a place called the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center. These trails are very unlike my old trails of Michigan. Where it was almost all flat land for me before, these new trails are almost all hills. I felt almost as if I was in another world!

So obviously I expected the wildlife to be different than what I had ever seen before. Oh, of course I expected the usual suspects. You know, birds and mammals, and a few reptiles and amphibians here and there. But I just wasn't sure of what form they might take.

So after many twists and turns, and up and down hills, I began to hear birds all around me. After some careful investigation I soon began to see these dark shadowy creatures all around me in the trees. Some of them even seemed as interested in me as I was of them.

It was strange that their calls didn't sound very odd to me. In fact, they seemed oddly familiar. The day was kind of gloomy, so all I was really seeing was shadows, and a few glimpses of dark feathers here and there. After maybe a few good pictures I was very excited to find out what these birds might be, but that would have to happen after I got back home.

Soon one of the birds flew down out of the trees and began poking around on the trail in front of me. I knew that behavior to be very familiar indeed. There were birds in Michigan that did that all the time. I was intrigued by the fact that these birds would also do that. I really wanted to know what kind of birds I was seeing!

Then after observing this bird for quite some time, an odd thought began to creep into my mind. No, it couldn't be. Well, maybe it could. After all, even though I am in a different state, I'm still in the same country. Both states are still close to the middle geographically.

So I decided that I should get a closer look at my new bird friend. I knew it! This was no mysterious and exotic bird at all! It was an American robin. These birds are some of the most common birds back in Michigan. And I have very many pictures and stories of them.

So my fantasies and impression, and maybe a little fear, of a new place fell a little short this time. It was fun while it lasted though. And in the end, finding out that this mystery bird was an ordinary robin actually made me feel a little bit more at home and in familiar territory.

All of this worried fantasy of a completely new place was just below my rational conscious mind. But our subconscious mind can have a powerful influence on us. I was thinking that I would have to learn too many things all over again. But this little robin taught me that my knowledge of nature would still be useful. Being in a new place is just more opportunity for adventure. Yes, there will be some new things. But the old familiar things will be here too. That makes me happy.


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