The Birds!
My sister turned the whole family onto Merlin! It's an app for your phone that records and identifies nearby birds by sound. Here is in the woods, we have LOTS of birds, and we have a family tradition of casual bird watching. We keep a Peterson's Guide within easy reach.
Yesterday, I got a record number of birds heard by my phone (mostly because I forgot that I had left the app on...!)
One big reason why we like birds is that when we were kids, my mom knitted a set of songbirds for us to play with. She created the distinctive coloration, shape, and size of many of the common songbirds that live in the woods near here. These birds, though a little worse for wear, are a treasured family heirloom.
I have tried to recreate Mom's magic, with limited success:
