WHEN BALD ISN'T BEAUTIFUL

I was sitting out on my deck enjoying the quiet when Alex came out to sit. “It's perfect out here.” I said to him as he sat down in the chair next to me. “So nice, now that the heat wave finally broke.”

He didn't get a chance to answer before a bird landed on the railing near us. “Whoa, what is wrong with that thing?” he asked as he pushed his chair back a bit getting further away from it.

“It's a blue jay.” I said although I could see why he was having trouble recognizing it. It's body was the coloring of a blue jay but it's head was completely bald.

“That doesn't look like any blue jay I've ever seen.” he said when all of a sudden it cried it's distinctive screech and flew away. “What's wrong with it?” he asked.

“It's just molting.” I explained. “They do that at this time of year.” I got quiet for a moment. “Do you hear that?” I asked.

Alex got quiet. “Hear what?”

“Exactly!” I said. “You don't hear the birds as much this time of year. That's because they go quiet for a week or two while they're getting new feathers or getting ready for their winter migration.”

Alex looked at me, than out at the tree line of our yard. “So how come this is the first time I'm seeing a bald bird?” he asked.

“That's a good question!” I said as I sat back further in my chair ready to explain this to him. “Most of the time they lose their feathers gradually so you'd never notice the molting. But once in a while you get one that looses all the feathers on his head at once.” I pointed in the direction of where the bald blue jay flew. “That's when you get a bald guy like that in your yard.”

Alex thought about it for a moment. “How do you know these things.” he asked.

I had to smile. He seemed interested, so I didn't want to lose him while I peppered him with more facts. “It's mostly the jays and cardinals that loose their feathers like that.” I said. “But all the birds change their feeding habits in the early fall.” I looked over at where I have my bird feeder set up. “I should probably fill the feeder now that nesting is over and they're getting ready for migration.”

Alex shook his head in confusion. “But how do you know all these things?” he asked again.

I paused for a moment before answering him. I so wanted to tell him that I'm just a wealth of information when it comes to the nature world. That I've been studying up on birds for years and I was ready to share this knowledge with him as we spent time together out on the back porch. But, I knew I couldn't lie.

I shrugged my shoulders, “Until yesterday I didn't even know birds molt.” I admitted. “But that freaky bald zombie bird landed on our deck yesterday and scared me to death!” I said. I rocked back in my chair again. “ I just Googled, bald birds, and an article about molting came up.” I looked over at him. “The migration thing was in the same article,” I shrugged my shoulders again. “Figured while I had you here you'd want to hear about that too.”

Alex got up from his chair shaking his head and laughing, “Freaky bald zombie bird.” he said, “Yeah, you're all about nature.” he said as he walked back in the house