Friday, April 9, 2010

Sun again

After the depressing retreat in the weather, my spirits lift at the sight of sun. I've been thinking about the whole experience of birding and one of the ongoing conundrums is how to answer the inevitable query, "Seen any interesting birds?" This question gives me great pause as I wonder how to answer it. First of all, is the person looking for detailed information on unusual sightings? Is it a serious question looking for information, or just the "How ya doing?' throw away line. If it is the latter, then the person may be quite taken aback by a long discussion of what has currently been occupying my thoughts, such as: "Why are Brown Creepers so uninterested in my presence and will often let me watch it from a foot away?" or "What made all the Robins take off at once when I saw and heard nothing?" or "Why is that Crow following me?" (That last query will probably cause the fellow hiker to back away from me quite quickly). But, to be honest, all birds are interesting. I am quite taken every spring with the determined and upright Robins and I love watching the Rock Pigeons (is that the latest nomenclature) launch themselves off roof peaks. I agree with Sam that when one takes up birding, one always has something interesting to watch. So, I am off into the sun, as I have a date with the pair of Belted Kingfishers on the riverbank.

2 comments:

Owen said...

Amen Robin! Good luck today. We need to get some shirts made up that read "I'd rather be Bigbying." I sure would right now!

Robin said...

What an excellent idea!