Bobwhite

For the second morning in a row I have heard a bobwhite calling outside. It is a distinct call, almost as if the bird is calling out his name in sing-song. I was always under the impression that the bobwhite was not native to Michigan – they are found more on the East Coast of the United States. At least that is what I read a long time ago. I just looked up the bobwhite on google and found that they can be found in southern Michigan and the call that I am hearing is the bird’s (of the quail species) territorial call. I have only heard that call in Michigan maybe two other times over the 30+ years I have been aware of it.

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Bobwhite/lifehistory

I learned about the bobwhite when I started reading my mom’s old Trixie Belden books. In it, Trixie and her friend use the bobwhite call as their secret signal and it is the name of their club – they were a mystery solving bunch, kind of like the Scooby Doo crew, hee hee. Because I loved the books so much, and me and my friend Johnny liked to think we were junior detectives, we used the bobwhite call as our signal too. Just hearing that call carries me back to childhood – I spent so many happy hours with Trixie. Now I want to go and dig out all my old Trixie Belden mysteries and read them all over again. Plus I wonder if the bird call is a signal or harbinger of something.

I did a search on Amazon and they actually have Trixie Belden books on Kindle! Then I discovered they have Betsy-Tacy books on Kindle too! Me an my friend Venice really loved those. Maybe I will spend the summer in the past 🙂

I also did some google searches and found websites dedicated to the books I love.

http://www.trixie-belden.com/index.html

http://www.betsy-tacysociety.org/