{"id":2311,"date":"2016-11-06T16:02:13","date_gmt":"2016-11-06T22:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/?p=2311"},"modified":"2021-05-25T02:50:25","modified_gmt":"2021-05-25T07:50:25","slug":"its-totally-up-to-the-birds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lostpineslife.com\/?p=2311","title":{"rendered":"When I’m Birding It’s Totally Up to the Birds"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s Totally Up to the Birds<\/h2>\n

I have to confess, on my first few “birding walks” led by expert birders, \u00a0I asked myself \u00a0“Are they making this up?” \u00a0Most of the time, I never saw the bird they pointed out. \u00a0When I did, I saw a gray silhouette against the morning sky while the guide remarked on colors, eye rings and wing bars. \u00a0When I joined a Christmas Bird Count team, \u00a0little brown birds vanished before my\u00a0binoculars met my eyes, \u00a0while my teammates rattled off lists like “6 Chipping Sparrows, 2 Savannahs, a Vesper, and a Lincoln’s…”<\/p>\n

Now that it has been a year since the Christmas Bird Count\u00a0and a year and a half since the birding walks, \u00a0I would like to say I’ve caught up to my peers, but I \u00a0haven’t caught up and probably never will. \u00a0I’m better than I was. \u00a0I know my regulars at Little Piney by sight or by song; but to identify a new bird, I still need a picture and\u00a0my iBird, Sibley’s, and Natural Geographic. \u00a0When birds fly in all directions, I’ll probably only identify a few.<\/p>\n

For some people, birding is a skill, maybe even a sport. \u00a0They train, study, practice, know where to go, when to go, etc. \u00a0Good birders make bird sounds, and some birders use recordings, They have top of the line equipment, excellent concentration, patience, sharp vision, and clean glasses. \u00a0For those birders seeing birds is mostly up to them–they know how to make it happen. Not me. \u00a0When I’m birding, \u00a0I believe it’s totally up to the birds. \u00a0For one thing, the birds have to decide to come to Little Piney. \u00a0I rarely seek\u00a0out birds in other settings. \u00a0Then, they have to decide to let me see them. \u00a0Land on branches, \u00a0Call to me. \u00a0Look me in the eye. \u00a0Be curious birds.<\/p>\n

Birding Frenzy<\/h2>\n

This morning started with a flock of\u00a0birds. \u00a0All together in one huge elm gathered Yellow-rumps, Robins, a Northern Flicker, a Downy Woodpecker, a Red-bellied Woodpecker, an Eastern Phoebe, Carolina Chickadees, and Eastern Bluebirds. \u00a0There were surely other birds that I didn’t see. \u00a0I identified \u00a0some of them in the elm, and others as they flew to new perches–the Yellow-rumps and Robins headed to a pine tree. \u00a0The Bluebirds swirled around \u00a0a Bluebird house. \u00a0A Woodpecker made his bobbing way to a utility pole. \u00a0 I heard the Phoebe say her name, and spotted the scolding Chickadee, last to leave the elm. \u00a0I saw many more birds than I could count–dozens. \u00a0 They flew off in waves across the pond and out to the road where I found them again later in the morning. In the moment, I felt a little flustered–excited but frustrated that I couldn’t\u00a0count all those birds for my weekly bird census. \u00a0An expert birder would have done a much better job at the elm tree.<\/p>\n

A Slower Pace<\/h2>\n

Happily, the pace slowed down after the elm frenzy, \u00a0 Two Mockingbirds were pleased to show themselves and pose for photos.<\/p>\n

\"Mockingbird\" <\/a>
Mockingbird <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Mockingbird\" <\/a>
Mockingbird <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Down by the lake, a Great Blue Heron stayed in his tree for awhile, allowing photos as long as I kept my distance.<\/p>\n

\"Great
Great Blue Heron<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I turned a corner on the road and this beautiful Red-shouldered Hawk was watching me. \u00a0We held the gaze for awhile, and I took a few photos before I turned around leaving her to hunt. \u00a0 I encountered \u00a0her again a bit later. \u00a0I had walked right by her, my attention on the lake, looking for ducks. \u00a0I heard a sweet, murmuring bird sound and turned to see her not 15 feet away. \u00a0She was speaking to me. \u00a0We connected again, and again I moved on.<\/p>\n

Totally Up to the Hawk<\/h2>\n
\"Red-shouldered
Red-shouldered Hawk<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Back to the Flock<\/h2>\n

After the lake, I met up with the busy flock again down on the road. \u00a0This time the Flicker allowed a photo.<\/p>\n

\"Northern
Northern Flicker<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I still couldn’t count all the birds–warblers, Bluebirds, and others–but identified one more species for the day. \u00a0I got a good look at a Chipping Sparrow, one of the first sparrows to return to Little Piney for the winter!<\/p>\n

Blessed by Birds<\/h2>\n

The best moments of the day were, of course, the moments shared with the Red-shouldered Hawk. \u00a0 \u00a0I regret trying so hard to count the birds at the elm tree instead of just enjoying the chorus of sound and choreography of flight. \u00a0I’ll never be that birder who gets the count, I’m afraid, but that’s okay as long I’m the birder who gets to share a few sweet moments with a hawk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s Totally Up to the Birds I have to confess, on my first few “birding walks” led by expert birders, \u00a0I asked myself \u00a0“Are they making this up?” \u00a0Most of the time, I never saw the bird they pointed out. \u00a0When I did, I saw a gray silhouette against the morning sky while the guideContinue reading<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2314,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,22],"tags":[116,9,11,5,31,32,30,37,218,206,36,34,6,7],"class_list":["post-2311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bastrop-lost-pines-birds","category-bastrop-lost-pines-nature","tag-baby-bluebirds","tag-bastrop","tag-bastrop-birds","tag-bastrop-tx","tag-bastrop-tx-birds","tag-bastrop-tx-lost-pines","tag-bastrop-wildlife","tag-birding-bastrop-tx","tag-birds-of-bastrop-tx","tag-birds-of-texas","tag-eastern-bluebird","tag-great-blue-heron","tag-lost-pines","tag-red-shouldered-hawk"],"yoast_head":"\nWhen I'm Birding It's Totally Up to the Birds - Lost Pines Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When I'm birding, it's totally up to the birds. 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