My grandmother had a birdfeeder outside her breakfast room window, and when I was little, she told me about the birds that fed there. She said their names softly as they perched, “Chickadee, cardinal, tufted titmouse…”

My interest in the birds was dormant for over 40 years, then suddenly resurfaced last summer. I was determined to create a bird habitat, and read voraciously about what to plant to attract them to my yard. I planted pyrachantha, coneflower, dogwood and blueberries. I put out fresh water in a birdbath and special seed in the bird feeder.

I invested in a thick bird book that describes every bird in North America, and I waited with my binoculars on the ready for a bird to come. A couple of times a crow flew by, and once my husband spotted a lone dove on our deck rail. Both of these sightings created a commotion in our household, and we viewed it as foreshadowing to the flocks of beautiful birds that were sure to come flittering through our property. We saw a total of three birds the entire year. And it wasn’t because I wasn’t watching for them. I peered off the back of my deck, my ears perked for the sounds of birdcalls. I squinted my eyes at every rustle in the underbrush, only to be disappointed by yet another scurrying squirrel.

And then my friends gave me a bird feeder for my birthday. It is a very serious, wrought iron post from Birds Unlimited, with a finch feeder hanging on one side of it, and a regular feeder on the other. I filled one with the thistle, and the other with special seed, and figured I’d clean out the rotten clumps after the rain had ruined the seed, just like I’d been doing for the past year with my cheap feeders.

But lo and behold, the next morning my little dog raced to the window, and there was a GOLDFINCH eating from my feeder! And then there was another one waiting on the redbud tree, vivid yellow against the purple bloom.

That first morning the birds came, I got my husband out of the shower to come see. And after the third time, he gently told me he was so glad the birds made me so happy, but he had to get ready for work.

And five bags of thistle later, those birds still make me so happy. I watch out the window with my binoculars and bird book ready, and try to identify the birds I do not know. And I whisper the names of the ones my grandmother taught me, tufted titmouse, cardinal, chickadee, like I am greeting old friends I didn’t know I’d missed.

(Ferris Robinson can be reached at Ferrisrobinson@cs.com

She is the author of The Gorgeless Gourmet's Cookbook, which is filled with recipes that are easy to prepare, very low in fat and absolutely delicious.

She lives with her husband and three sons on Lookout Mountain.

To order the cookbook send check or money order to Peach Publishing, Box 366, Lookout Mtn., TN 37350. (Gorgeless Gourmet's Cookbook - $16.95)