Bird Bonanza

It was only 2 short summers ago when I was rolling my eyes at the bird-fascinated folks at the volunteer events I attend/run as part of my job.  There we'd be, butterfly nets in hand... catching butterflies.. counting butterflies.. today is about BUTTERFLIES, people!!!... and an Upland Sandpiper would start singing on a fencepost down the road - and that's all it took for 7 butterfly hunters to turn simultaneously, drop their nets, grab their binocs and start exclaiming over the bird.  I remember Jeff and I rolling our eyes at each other and nodding, fake-smiling at the bird crazies.  I remember saying to him "I'm just never going to be able to get excited about birds".  I also can distinctly hear myself saying "I'll never be a birder - they have to get up too early.  Give me plants any day.  Plants let you sleep in."

Alas... 2 years later.. I'd freaking kill to see that sandpiper singing away on the fencepost in Carden. A grassland bird whose population is in decline in Ontario, who sings the sweeest little song and has the cutest little face... I'm all in!

Seriously.. could he be more cute?

Last spring I decided that I better up the ante when it came to my species identification skills if I wanted to be the bomb at my job.  It was the middle of March.. there wasn't anything around to study.. except a few wintery birds in my backyard.  So I started there.  It takes a lifetime to become a bird expert - just this past week one of Carden's greatest field naturalists told me "give it 20 years".  Oh.. ok. So I'm doing what I can!  2 years down, 18 to go!  Becoming a bird nerd entails a lot of weird stuff... like listening to bird call "albums" for the duration of 2 hour flights/car rides and forcing yourself to learn the crazy mnemonic devices that birders over the years have attributed to different bird calls.  A White-throated Sparrow calls "Oh sweet canada, canada, canada" (ok), whereas a Red-winged Blackbird has the classic "conk-la-deeeee!" (my dad argues that's NOT what it says and I sound like a crazy person describing it like that).  Nothing better than the Barred Owl's "Who cooks for you?  Who cooks for youuuuu allll?".  In person.. they sound like birds.  But with 300 or so species here in Ontario, I've gotta figure out a way to tell them apart, so it seems like it's worth a try. 

I recently purchased this sassy harness for my binoculars.  Now rather than having my amazing binocs (a gift, of course, I can't afford "amazing") hanging like a mafia rock around my neck all day, I can comfortably distribute the weight across my back and shoulders, all the while looking THIS hot:

Ohhhh ya....

 After my recent trip to Carden Alvar (for good friends, you will hear me say Carden about 1000 times this summer - after which most of you stare blankly, to which I reply "it's about half an hour east of Orillia"... if you're reading this, and take a moment to remember where Carden is and I'll give you a hug the next time I see you and you are listening to one of my inane stories about my fieldwork) I decided it was time to tally it all up and see how I was doing in terms of my "life list" of birds.  I haven't birded anywhere but Ontario, so I'm working my way up to an eventual goal of around 300 (hey isn't that how many classic novels I wanted to read in my lifetime?  interesting!).  And it turns out I'm at 88!  Some of my more interesting sightings include birds that are rare in Canada and/or Ontario such as:

- Golden-winged Warbler (heard singing.. well, buzzing, for the first time in my life last Thursday on the edge of a forest habitat overlooking an alvar)
- American White Pelican (rare in Ontario, like gulls on Lake of the Woods - but I still can't get enough of them!!!)
- Bobolink (a chatty little grassland bird that's flight reminds me of pedalling a bike in a low gear - lots of effort and not much forward movement!)
- Gray Jay (rare in southern Ontario, found in a disjunct population in.. you guessed it.. Carden!)

Golden-winged Warbler

American White Pelican

Bobolink

I've had the pleasure and luck of birding with some of the best birders in Ontario, and they have been a tremendous help in powering me along in my learning.  I still have a long way to go from 88, but I'm getting there! This past week I had a super cool few days in Carden which involved seeing some "lifers" like the Sora (http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/sora/sounds - listen to the call, like a ghost horse! and check out that creepy eye), and American Bittern ("gloonk-a-doonk" - http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/american_bittern/sounds) in a "famous" marsh area, not to mention the GW Warbler and Bobolink (above).  Once you hear/see a species you'll pretty much remember it for life, so that's great! Too bad there are 13 species of gulls that are virtually identical, 5 species of terns that vaguely looks like the gulls and all look like each other, and 29 warblers that all seem to have some yellow on them.  Sigh.  Going to be a long 18 years, but I'll get there.. I know it.  At least now I have the passion in me, which is really what sustaining any hobby/interest is all about.  Jeff and I invested in an awesome lens for our camera, so once we get the backyard in good shape and can leave the gardens and return to nature we'll have lots of awesome bird photos to share.  He may still sigh when I drop my butterfly net (or whatever else I may be holding) and make a run for the bird I'm hearing/seeing, but he'll probably catch up and take a picture eventually, which is a good compromise!! :)  I'm working to get the life list to 100 before the 2012 field season comes to a close - stay tuned!  Too bad I can't count Rainbow Lorikeets... ;)  (sidenote: why can't Ontario birds do this to me in the field?  would be so much easier to ID!!!)

 

June 4, 2012 UPDATE: Life list is up to 96 after 3 days in Carden.  Added a Nashville Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Marsh Wren, Eastern Bluebird, Virginia Rail, Clay-coloured Sparrow, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, and Northern Waterthrush. Ya!