Greetings--

I'm currently reading a nice little compilation of natural history
observations by D.A Orton, entitled "The Hawkwatcher: Adventures Among
Birds of Prey in the Wild" (some of you may remember his famous monograph
"Merlins of the Welsh Marches",where he observed nesting merlins for 4
seasons in the early '70's and documented interesting behavior..i.e., an
adult merlin entering the territory of a nesting pair and perching in a
tree close by the nest--which had young in it--and socializing with the
nesting pair by "kakking" back and forth),in any case he makes this
statement:

If one can find the patience to sit quietly in the same place
-and the right place-for several hours at a stretch, waiting for
something of interest to happen, it usually does.

Now, that causes me to wonder about staying put as a methodology as most
of the bird trips I've been on we've spent time running from here to
there, or walking around, or driving, or otherwise changing venue all the
time. Admittedly, Orton is really interested in raptors and goes where
he thinks he can find them. I wonder if any *tweets* use the sitting and
observing technique more than scurrying about? And, how did this evolve
for you? I suspect one gets more observations of a reduced number of
species, but maybe not. Just a thought..

Tom

Tom Foote footet at elwha.evergreen.edu
The Evergreen State College 866-6000 x6118
Olympia, WA 98505