Personal reflections and commentary on wild birds, birding, birders, birdwatching, and other natural history topics of interest
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Life Birds Are Where Your Find Them
In early December I had an opportunity to spend a four-day weekend with a life-long friend in Oakland, California. This was a social visit, not a directed birding trip. The only serious birding was a half-day trip to Point Reyes National Seashore in strong winds, where we saw a nice (but not extraordinary) assortment of birds and enjoyed a notable up-close-and-personal encounter with a very curious Common Raven (Corvus corax) at Limantour Beach. Still, I managed to tally four life birds, a benefit of having spent little time in coastal California. These included two parids—Oak [=Plain] Titmouse (Baeolophus inornatus) and Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus)—seen in the neighborhood while walking the dog, a pair a California Towhees (Pipilo crissalis) that awaited us on the front porch when we returned from Sunday brunch, and a Brewer’s Blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus) foraging for food on the sidewalk at the Oakland International Airport. I guess the moral of this story is, always keep your eyes open and your binoculars handy.
reminds me of another 'rule' I often hear in birding circles: keep looking up! -- it's often the case that while concentrating on the hedgerow or tree in front of you a different or very interesting bird flies right overhead offering only a limited chance at ID.
ReplyDeleteI even know birders who try, with at least some difficulty, applying this rule while driving in rush hour traffic ;-)
Yep, sometimes you have to go out and find them, like the gray hawk I saw at Buenos Aries NWR, and sometimes they fly into your yard, like the lark sparrow I saw last year at my feeder. Wherever or however, it's always a good day when you can see a new bird!
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