I'll pitch in my 2cents -
Believe it or not, I've done a bit less long-distance birding by car
this year than last. But that's only true in a relative sense, and
only by a bit. Likewise this year, I've also done a lot more local
King county birding and a little more group birding than in the past.

But not by much. Sure, the gas prices are a pain, but I get too much
joy out of birding to let money stop me. Seeing the 2 stray warblers
last week was worth every bit of money I spent on those 2 trips [I
admitted the decrease in mileage was relative already!]. Learning
more and more about the birds of Washington and the places that they
call home has proven an endless source of fascination. I'm enjoying
myself too much to spend too long rationalizing the whole process.

I could rationalize my mostly solo birding outings by pointing to my
fuel-efficient little Hyundai, but that's not really the way I
approach it. For me and at this point in my life, I'd rather spend
what income I have on birding gas or bird books. I see far fewer
movies, buy fewer cds, go out to eat rarely, and accept a bunch of
credit card debt. All worthwhile tradeoffs for the pleasure &
knowledge I'm getting.

Not intended to persuade or criticize others - I just wanted to throw
in my own take on the question,

Matt Bartels
Seattle, WA


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