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The recent postings on the importance of paying attention to detail
reminded me of an earlier birding experience that I had which I will
share. Not long after I had moved to Utah (1986), I saw and reported a
Palm Warbler on the Utah Rare Bird Hot Line (that I manage today).
Previously, I had seen the Palm Warbler in Georgia. Since this was my
first experience living in the Inter-mountain West, I did not realize
how rare a Palm Warbler sighting would be in Utah, especially in winter
(January).
Terry Sadler (Hot Line Manager then) called me to verify the
sighting. Craig Kneedy (since deceased) came out to verify the bird.
He was doing a Big Year and was then the current record holder for a Big
Year. With some trepidation, I started walking with Craig
from my Farmington home to the nearby spot where I had seen this
warbler. I was hoping that it would be there, so Craig would not
think me an idiot.
Fortunately, the bird was there. It was feeding on small aquatic
insects along a spring that traverses an irrigation ditch on the USU Botanical
Gardens property that bordered mine. I felt instant relief, seeing the
bird. Then I felt pride that I had discovered this Utah rarity.
"There it is," I said, pointing to it. "Where", Craig asked me? I
then gave as detailed an explanation of the birds location, as we birders
can. "You see that clod of mud, next to the Wilson's Snipe," I said.
"Go to the right, and it is sitting along side of the stream edge, next to the
leaves, clinging to that piece of barb wire," I explained.
"Do you see it," I asked him. Craig answered me, "No, not yet."
Then he asked me, "Is it near that American Water Pipit?" "Pipit," I
said. "Pipit!" Later when relating that story to my family, my
son Billy told me that we would have to move right away, since this
embarrassment would haunt us forever.
Hopefully, that experience has made me a better observer of birds, since I
decided not to move. Being an idiot who can easily fit two feet in his
mouth has never deterred me from continuing to bird. I enjoy all of the
birds, those I can identify and those I think that I am seeing.
Local birder, Jack Rensel (one of the best field birders that I have ever met)
once told of group of birders that I was with, after someone called a bird that
was quite some distance away (it may have even been me), "where the eyes fail
us, the imagination takes over."
Enjoy the birds. Work on your observation skills but have fun and
don't worry about calling them, as you see them. Kenn Kaufman who doesn't
keep a life list, answered a question I once asked him about the rules for
keeping a life list. "Bill", he said, "always remember that it is your
list, so you get to make the rules."
Regards,
Bill
Fenimore
Wild Bird Center 1860 North 1000 West Layton UT 84041-1858 (801) 525-8400 Store (801) 699-9330 Cellular www.wildbirdcenter.com/stores/lay |