By HADLEY CAMPBELL

Special to the Herald

This summer we’ve had a few open evenings. We chose to fill them by introducing our teen granddaughter to movie classics! She was already familiar with “The Sound of Music,” “Grease,” “Jaws,” and “Planet of the Apes!”

“Rain Man” and “Cool Hand Luke” we included. “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” was followed by Hitchcock’s “The Birds” - a sixty-three-year-old thriller!

She enjoyed the suspense -the special effects – pre-Spielberg! Pursuing, perched and pecking birds! Got me to thinking:

Have birds been part of your life? Could be my numbers are way above average, but I recall a fascination for the creatures way back – peeking in nests, examining feathers, learning calls, or contriving contraptions in an effort to catch them!

Steve Hein, before “Glory” and “Freedom,” lived close-by and when beginning his high-flight towards GA Southern. We’ve borrowed, built, and bought bluebird houses for decades now.

This spring local children delighted in finding a Killdeer (plover) nest in the middle of a wood-chipped playground. When approached, the parents performed an “injured wing” routine to lure watchers away!

Such wonders abound yet who takes notice? Buzzing hummingbirds, suspended in midflight, twitter off chasing a competitor. Raucous Blue jays cry “Cat-Cat” dive-bombing trespassing felines!

Or those ever-present mockingbirds, on mailboxes and lampposts, imitating others. Bright red cardinals allow their mate to keep an eye on them!

Years ago, Grandma stared out the glass door, hand-cupped to her ear. When questioned as to what she was doing, she said:

Trying to find that Peckerwood!”

The Rat-a-tat-tat summons all withing earshot, be it a red-headed woodpecker, downy, or the gigantic Pileated – 15-19 inches tall with a wingspan of 26-30 inches!

-Ever hear a catbird call?

-Spotted that bright blue, red, yellow, and green Painted bunting?

-Seen a Great-Crested Flycatcher nest, twigs intertwined with shed snake skin?

-Heard Georgia’s Brown thrasher, dancing loudly in the bushes?

Or witnessed the bodacious call of the miniscule Carolina wren?

With cast nets on the coast, we’ve fed Snowy Egrets and Great Blue herons.

Of course, it’s not as exciting as movies. But it is real. Some are just as entertaining.