Subject: [Tweeters] Re: Thoughts about birding
Date: Dec 15 21:01:53 2005
From: Dennis Paulson - dennispaulson at comcast.net


Tweeters,

I just read Mike Patterson's post about his birding attitudes and
experiences, and I was quite amazed that it's just about a perfect
match for my own thoughts. A few words could have been changed to
make it my own statement (thanks for saving me all that writing, Mike).

For my own part, I like going out in nature with my wife and/or with
a few friends much better than I do going out by myself, as it's
really so cool to share the experiences you have in the field. That's
an optimal group size. I sometimes go the other way when I see a
crowd of birders, as I really get the most out of nature by making my
own discoveries, maybe because I grew up mostly birding by myself. I
have always got a thrill out of making discoveries in nature, which
is why I will probably never go on a tour and why I don't chase
rarities very much and very far. As Mike said, this doesn't result in
a lot of rare birds on one's list. When I have come back from
somewhere exotic and someone says "What! You didn't get the Fuchsia-
crested Xxyyzz! Why that's an easy stake-out if you go to the seventh
fence post just east of HIggledy-Piggledy!" I just shrug and wonder
how much I would have been enriched to "get" one more life bird, when
every day of birding in that place was a constant thrill anyway, or
if it would have been worth driving all the way to H-P and missing a
morning photographing wild flowers in some beautiful valley. But
we're all differently motivated, and I think any way of enjoying
nature is a good way.

In addition to birding in (very) small groups, I teach a lot of
classes, which involves larger groups. I love doing that and am
entirely happy taking out 10 or 20 or more people to look at birds,
as I get a lot of pleasure from showing and telling. I would never
have become a teacher otherwise, and if it's neat to show one person
their first Wood Duck, surely it's 10x neater to show it to 10
people! And as good as the showing is the telling. It makes my day to
tell anyone anything about nature that they didn't know before, even
if the object of the discussion isn't right in front of us. I have
also led nature tours to a variety of places, and I've never led one
that I didn't enjoy immensely. So I'm happy in crowds when I can be a
teacher but have no desire to be in a crowd being led around. At a
few ornithological meetings, I've gone on trips in buses, and they
weren't my favorite thing. Forgetting about any other disadvantages,
we passed too many interesting-looking areas that I would have
checked out if I'd been on my own! And I know it would have been
unlikely for me to find anything as exciting as what the trip leaders
had in mind for us.

I agree also with Mike about preferring not to point out distant
vocalizations that may be hard to hear (first of all, I know they'll
stop calling as soon as I call attention to them). The few times I've
been out with people in other countries who knew the birds better
than I did, it was a constant frustration having them name birds that
called, knowing we were never going to see those secretive species.
(I even came up with the phrase "salivating over nothing.") When by
myself, I will try to track down a call, and if I can see the bird
and identify it, great; if not, I won't know what I'm missing.

There really is a whole lot that can be said about one's attitudes
toward birding and nature in general. I guess some people write books
about it!

Dennis

Dennis Paulson
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115
206-528-1382

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