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| The Northern Harrier |
So as a beginner in birding, I'm realizing that there are various levels of birding. Some go to see any birds(that's me) while others go to check birds off their lists. And some go for the challenge of finding rarities out in the wild. I'm not the last two types of birder....yet. The best comparison that I can come up with is from my French series. When you go to Paris, you go see the Eiffel Tower. When you go to the Whitewater Draw, you go for the Sand Cranes. I'm here to say that I'd like to be the birder who looks for the hard to find birds once I get over the ones that "steal" the show:) And I know that once I get my "Eiffel Tower" experience out of the way in the birding field, I'll be a better birder. But for now, it's the waterfowl, sand cranes, scarlet macaws, hawks, cardinals, and the owls! But there is so much more out there just waiting to be seen:)
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| Loggerhead Shrike |
For example, did you know this Loggerhead Shrike above is a brutal killer? Known in many parts as the "Butcher Bird," it impales its prey on thorns or barbed wire before eating it, because it does not have the talons of the larger birds of prey. How cool is that? But the Sand Cranes steal all the thunder away from these interesting birds:) But I noticed!
The ducks fought back during my Whitewater Draw visit and they flew around the air just to say, "We are here!!!" And the air became thick with birds, waterfowl, songbirds and cranes alike as they flew around in a massive cloud of wings. When all that action is going on, it makes it difficult to focus on the smaller details hiding in the reeds. I know my advanced birder friends politely smile at me and look at my birding as naive. But I'll get there. As I expand the garden, I'll be attracting various birds to the area......and it's important to know what's out there. For now, I'm just enjoying the ride and look forward to the day where I'll actually carry a birding book and go with a mission to find the unattainable rare brown bird:) However no matter the depths of our birding interest, I think "Birds of a feather stick together." sums all of us best.
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Birds seem so delicate and elegant and it is always a surprise of seeing them fighting or being cruel towards each other. Nice shots!
ReplyDeleteAnother way to look at things...perhaps the seasoned birders miss the beauty in those more common. :) I love them all!
ReplyDeleteExcelente trabalho....
ReplyDeleteCumprimentos
i loved your descriptions - of the birds and yourself. i can so relate. i'm no where near a serious birder of any kind. i'd be the one jumping up and down with glee seeing an eagle or sparrow or whatever... :)
ReplyDeleteZaczynasz być dobrym znawcą ptaków + świetne zdjęcia = miło czytać i patrzeć. Pozdrawiam ciepło, chociaż u nas bardzo zimno :-). *** You start to be a good connoisseur of great photos of birds + = nice to read and watch. With best wishes, although in our very cold :-).
ReplyDeleteThere are many aspects to birding Rohrerbot, and they are all enjoyable, the main thing is, they get us out there :-)
ReplyDeleteBrilliant images Chris.
ReplyDeleteGood to see/hear you are getting into the birding scene. Now you're doing so theres no turning back and if you're anything like me you won't want there to be.
ReplyDeleteThanks for looking in on Birds2blog, your comments are most welcome and appreciated.
how cool is that?
ReplyDeleteoh dear...
have fun birding
I think it would be a shame to get to the stage where the more commonly seen birds are overlooked or just dismissed. I know some birders do and there are some so called 'twitchers' who travel miles just to tick a particular bird off their list but barely appreciate the beauty of the bird they are looking at, it seems very sad to me.
ReplyDeleteI have read about the butcher bird, its habits sound like something out of a rather sick serial killer movie!!
there is an Australian bird called a butcher bird but I don't know if it's a serial killer. There's so much to learn and they're all fascinating. Being short-sighted, I'm very aware that I more often hear birds than see them and intend to try to learn to identify their sounds.
ReplyDeletewoooooowww, that's pretty crazy about the shrike!
ReplyDeleteLovely shots...
ReplyDeleteI love all the photos, Chris. I am really enjoying your bird expeditions. The plain birds thrill me just as much as the fancy pants ones. :-)
ReplyDeleteI live in the country with the cows, sheep and occasional llama. I feed birds and have a bird book but still have trouble matching the bird in the book of Ohio birds with the ones eating at the birdfeeder. The only one I know for sure is the chickadee they sit in the tree when I come out and say Chick-a-dee dee. They seem to be telling me that the food is gone.
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