Subject: Re: New Horizons (was 'When the Lifers Dry Up')
Date: Mar 12 07:32:39 1997
From: Tom Foote - footet at elwha.evergreen.edu




On Tue, 11 Mar 1997, DAVID NUNNALLEE wrote:


> I was a little saddened by the thread "When the Lifers Dry Up".
saddened? Because there is so much more out there to see and do,

[snip..]

Have you sat quietly in a warm
mountain meadow, with a flower field guide on your lap, and identified the
fragrant flowers around you? >

[snip..]

Has my interest in birds dwindled away? Hardly; I am
learning to appreciate more and more how birds and plants and insects all
relate together, and how one depends on the other.

[snip..]

So put away the melancholy; the excitement isn't winding down
and ending, but just beginning. Take Idie Ulsh's butterfly class, or
watch for Dennis Paulson's upcoming dragonfly class, or take a North
Cascades Institute wildflower course, and broaden your interests. You
will appreciate birding all the more for it.

Dave--

Interesting post...thanks..puts me in mind of the the thread
on techniques of Birding we had some time ago..

I guess what I think--and I hasten to add this is my humble
opinion-- that the listing doesn't matter..at least for me. I
am just as content to watch the same old birds doing different
things.. Dennis, how often would you be willing to watch the same
old nuthatch? :) :)

Two books that really turned me around (unfortunately out of print)
are Hawkwatcher & Merlins of the Welsh Marches, by D.A. Orton
Somewhere in the context of discussing birding, Orton says he
prefers to get a *flask* (he's a Brit) of hot coffee, his bins,
a sandwich, a low, canvas chair (like the ones you sit in at the
beach as you have your feet in the water..) and sit for 6 hours..
his point is that if you sit quietly *in some mountain meadow*
or wherever you are, amazing things happen sooner or later..and
it's everything that goes on around you..birds, butterflies,
insects..etc.. So, while I might mourn the inevitable loss of
passerines, and then the small accipiters, etc..I will get out in
and sit for long periods of time soaking up all that's going
on around me..and writing field notes in my journal..
I certainly would not condemn anyone who wishes to pursue the
thrill of *that new bird*..I understand that, but I also don't
list. It's not important to me..what is important, is what those
SOB's (Same Old Birds.. :) are doing.. I was thrilled last
week when I got to watch a Varied Thrush for 10 minutes while
it was in my back yard..and even more thrilled when I thought I
saw a Scrub jay (with my naked eye) and when I got my bins on
it, I found myself looking at a Sharpshin Hawk..always
a Cause Celebre given the high mortality rate of those little
accipiters..And it was a double thrill to note it was an adult
w/ a dark eye..I tired to imagine the perils, hardships, weather
etc., that bird had survived for two plus winters...

Thanks again for the thoughtful post, Dave...it really gives
Tweets something to think about in terms of expanding their
outdoor activity..

Tom