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April 19, 2007  Crackin' Fifty (Avian Core Samples) From the beginning of April, spring migration dramatically increases the number of returned birds. Although this avian influx occurs every year and I should be used to it, I'm not. When the air, water, and trees teem with bird life I am seized by the notion (compulsion) to make daily lists of all bird species encountered. So why would anyone do this? To celebrate - that's why! You party animals out there might think that filling in bird checklists is dull celebration compared with fireworks, or cases of booze, but checklists are much safer and cheaper. No one ever lost a hand making a checklist... well; perhaps if you were in an alligator-infested swamp filling out a Roseate Spoonbill sighting - but even that possibility seems remote. Another reason to make daily checklists is something to do with my compulsion to amass "core samples" of bird activity - yes, core samples. A checklist, dated, and tallied with location indicated is a time capsule of bird activity for a specific day, a specific year, and a specific location. Granted such information might mean little to anyone today but should these copious stacks of observations fall into the hands of some scientific group in the future just think how much information would be gleaned. And what would future scientists do with all this valuable information? Why no less than save the avian world! Thus inspired I turned to the task at hand. It had not escaped my attention that given the number of returned species, counting fifty a day was a reasonable goal. So that became my soft target for each outing. Technically, of course, they were not outings and I'll tell you why. Upon becoming aware that everyone must do their part to cut down on C02 emissions it would be rather ironic if I then made birding-only trips by car. So I decided to make the most out of any car trip taken during the course of a day, and fold bird outings into my trips. Also, wherever I found myself - on a morning walk, sitting in a cafe or even at the dump - I would tally the birds around me. Feeling quite smug about my new found world-saving crusade I started to make one daily list after another. I must confess to falling off the gas wagon a few times and blame it squarely on that cursed soft target of sighting fifty species. I tell myself that a true daily bird tally should have nothing to do with suggested target totals, but pressure myself to reach that magical number, fifty. Let's take a typical day of tallying. I step out the door and cock my ear for the call of a Varied Thrush, a hard bird to get later in the day. That done I head to town watching the creek and the trees for more bird species. When I'm not being tailgated I slow down over the little bridge just before town and open my window hoping to catch the sound of a Kingfisher. While in town I might first take a walk around the marsh then look over Exeter Valley with my scope (this is a small detour of about a mile when taken from the north end of town). Then it's back home. I usually arrive back home about 10:30 with 38 bird species in hand. The yard generally provides a few more species - Woodpeckers, perhaps even a Grouse, or Steller's Jay. But I know where I can get twelve more species by putting leather to the pedal. So I dither. It's so easy to convince myself to return to town and ferret out more species. I tell myself that my bird-catch area is so small. It extends, in its broadest interpretation, from Skaday Bridge to the new sewer lagoon, a driving distance of roughly 8 miles. How many times have I reached my magical fifty? None! But that's alright. Since it is the week of Earth Day it is good for me to wrestle with my indulgences. Today, my new list is already begun. Although not as yet totaled, I'm sure the number of birds will not add up to fifty. This will prompt me to once again set out on the road and attempt to reach the number of species I want. But, should I? Do I deserve it? No doubt I'll tell myself whatever it takes to make today's decision. Ultimately though, it is the earth that pays for everything we think we've earned. Hey, I'm going to need more checklists. To e-mail Tom CLICK HERE To look at previous column CLICK HERE |
