Choices
I struggled with a decision the last few days. When I originally registered for the Rio Grande Valley Bird Fest, I must not have been birding for a few days because I signed up for as many field trips as I could schedule. When I arrived and looked over my schedule, I saw that I had registered for a trip that was to last 11 hours to get a rare bird called a white-collared seedeater. I thought to myself, "Do I really have an 11 hour bird trip in me? One that has a two and a half hour drive out there and the same on the drive back?
No.
I worried that this was a sign that I had reached my birding threshold. Did this reluctance for the trip mean that I'm getting "too old" for that kind of birding? Was I loosing my edge? I tried to justify that the trip wouldn't have been that great for bird photos for the blog and not a very interesting entry. I exchanged the 11 hour trip for a bird banding demonstration instead, still wondering if that was the cool thing to do. Here is the answer:
Oh yeah, I made the right decision. More dazzling photos coming within the next two days.
posted by birdchick at 4:27 PM
8 Comments:
Actually the White-collar Seadeater is not a rare bird but instead a winter casual bird in the Rio Grand Valley.
Also your takes on the Pygmy Nuthatch is not correct. The MOURC committee was not doing much in house fighting because everyone agreed to count the bird and add it to the official state list except two members and K.E. (chair at the time) decision to add a asterisk next to the bird was a compromise to the public who were filling up the listserv with opinions and also to the two members who made some strong comments about the countability of the bird and also adding it to the list.
The big issue of this debate was this: Can you count a bird to your state list if that bird was intentionally lured to fly over the state boundary line by use of tapes? The Pygmy Nuthatch never flew into Minnesota on its own unless a birder used a tape recorder to lure it over the state line. To this day everyone who added this bird to his/her list had to use a tape recorder to lure the bird over and also there was not one sighting of the bird flying over the river on its own without the use of tapes. Also the bird never responded to pishing as well. It was a very lively debate and to this day not many birders involve with the decision like to talk about it because there is no answer to the question.
Duluth
MH
Back on the point of this entry, you definitely made the right call, Sharon. I had the Seedeater in 2004 behind the library in Zapata, TX. There's just not much to him. Like crossing a Northern Mockingbird with a Loggerhead Shrike. He was worth the extra hour my guide and I took then, but not eleven, IMHO.
And MH is right. Seedeater is reliable in places so you'll have other chances.
Looking forward to the banding photos.
Dave
So where are your blue nails now? Great pic.
Rose
Personally, I think bailing on the 11 hour trip to see one (possibly) rare Life Bird is the right choice, when the option was to stick around and see many birds close up.
Sometimes, listing can be just "mechanical" birding, while observing birds, even if they are nothing unusual, can be just as much fun as ticking off another species. Perhaps you see behavior you never noticed before or find interesting variations. I'm not on any cool birding trip, but I got to see a weird yellow-variant House Finch in my back yard this weekend, as well as watch a grateful pair of Eastern Bluebirds dig into mealworms and suet dough not 10 minutes after I put their feeder out. That kind of birding is still enjoyable to me, even if I don't chase the Rufous Hummingbird that has been seen 100 miles away.
Does that mean I'm old? I sure hope not!
~Kathi
PS: Say "Hi!" to Jim McCormac for me. I see from his blog he's at Rio Grande, too.
It's hard to keep your nails blue with all the liquid restrictions at the airport. I decided to do this trip without checking any luggage and do all carry ons. You have to fit all your liquids and gels in a one quart ziplock bag, so I wasn't able to do the blue or purple nails this time.
I did meet Jim McCormac--what a big hunk of burning birder he is!
Sometimes listing can be fun, but I'm not just about listing and there is something to be said for just enjoying the yellow variant house finch at the feeder. I know I never get tired of the hairy woodpecker that comes to our feeders.
I did get a kick out of some of the listers on this trip. One person was desperately trying to get western meadowlark and both eastern and western are down here. Every time we saw a meadowlark the person kept going to the guides to turn it into a definite western. In some ways the person reminded me of a kid trying to get permission from parents. When one guide didn't confirm western, the lister went to a different guide to get an opinion (and perhaps the answer they wanted to hear). I know there are some subtle plumage variations to tell the differences between the two but the songs are what many people use to tell them apart--and what a treat the first time you hear that western in the wild! But, this is how that person enjoys birding, so more power to them.
Having passed on the Zapata trip at least three times, I'm right with ya, B.C. You have my unameliorated respect as a sensible person. Now, if there were nesting thick-billed parrots at the end of that drive, I'd be packing. Zapata is for listers! God bless 'em, but I'm not one of 'em.
BC, I'm going to be the heavy here and ball you out for skipping the seedeater trip. Seriously, anti-listing sentiment doesn't become you! You really missed out. The upper valley is a completely different area than the lower valley. Its not just about the seedeater, but about the scrub country, Brown Jays, Scaled Quail, Muscovy Duck, etc. Chapeno, San Ygnacio, Zapata, hardscrabble borderlands. And even if it was just about a bird, the seedeater is a way cool bird that shouldn't be missed. Don't let its small size fool you, that's a lot of its charm. Its like a little feathered june bug.
But seriously, you should really try for them the first time the way I did--in April when its already over 100 degrees in the shade. You won't see it, but you'll have a great memory, and appreciate them even more when you come back and finally get it the second time.
Its not about the list. Its about the experience. The list is just a reminder of adventures past, and the promise of adventures to come. Sorry you missed out!
bc (we have the same initials).
Feel free to take me to task. I'm certainly not anti-listing. I just didn't have an 11 hour trip in me...actually, more to the point, I didn't have an 11 hour trip with 30 other people on a bus after having spent the past two days doing bus trips for 6 hours. If it had been a car load of a few friends then I would have gone for it. I get very crispy in hot weather with very little patience, I was tired and needed a day away from the group dynamic.
On this trip I did go on the bus tour to Chapeno for brown jay and didn't get it.
Wait 'til I post the banding photos, I still think I made the right decision.
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