Variety is the Spice of Life

Today’s post was indirectly inspired by my friend Walter Valo. Walt is not a birder, but he’s a person with an open mind. I believe he would try just about anything once…in many different facets of life. Anyways, I took him birding one time and Walt was more enamored with the birders than the birds themselves. I caught him on more than one occasion staring at someone on the boardwalk. He just couldn’t believe some of the characters he was witnessing. Walt’s bird watcher watching and my own personal observations over the years are the basis for this post.
The 5 Types of Birders
1. The Novice: They’ve heard of birding but perhaps thought people were joking about it being real. Can range from genuinely interested to dragged along against their will by their significant other.
2. The Nature Guy: This individual is not just into birds. He’ll talk your head off about snakes and varmints and all sorts of other stuff you probably don’t care about because you came to the park to bird. No I kid Nature Guy. He’s usually very nice and mellow. Of course I’ve always suspected him to be a pot head.
3. The Khaki Klan: I don’t know what it is about birders but so many of them go the monochromatic route when it comes to their clothing. I’ve seen entire families dressed in tan. I don’t think the birds are going to act any differently if you slide on a pair of Levi’s.
4. The Celebrity: My favorite of all birders. He wants to be the first to spot something. Correction…he NEEDS to be the first to spot something. Once he has his Hooded Warbler, or Screech Owl, or a camouflaged Woodcock (a.k.a. A pile of leaves) in his sights, he promptly begins sucking in other birders closer to view his triumphant discovery. Soon 30 or more people surround this individual, who by now is nearly prancing with pride. I’m not a huge fan of this practice, but it does add another entertaining dimension to birding.
5. The Average Joe: These people make up the vast majority of birders. They love birding, but it’s far from being their lives. This is the category I would put myself into. I’ve been birding for nearly two decades now so I don’t exactly belong in the novice class. I do in fact love nature in general, but I’m not so in awe of it that it’s creepy. My fashion sense is…satisfactory. I generally wear more than one solid color. As far as my celebrity status is concerned, I would say that I have occasionally slipped into the spotlight. I will say, however, that any boardwalk fame I’ve enjoyed throughout my birding tenure has always been accidental, and that my motives for keeping the attention once captured are more honorable than those of most of the binoculared bozos I’ve seen over the years. If you ever get the opportunity to show an avid birder one that they’ve never seen before, and perhaps have been chasing for a long time, you’ll never forget the experience. I’ve been bear hugged by complete strangers for helping them add a special life bird to their list. Despite the clear breach of personal space, those experiences have brought me much happiness.
In other news, I am up to 46 birds for the year! Highlights this past week include Pine Siskin (Oak Openings Window on Wildlife), Brown Creeper and Eastern Bluebird (Bend View Metropark), and I added a Northern Harrier (Magee Marsh) today. Carl (Dad) and I saw numerous Bald Eagles on our trip this afternoon. Right before we pulled into Magee Marsh two adult eagles were pecking at an old deer carcass out in a farm field only 30 or so feet off of Route 2. Pretty Cool. Probably won’t be birding again until Friday. Elissa and I are heading down to The Everglades Thursday night. We’re taking a boat tour of Florida Bay to look for shore birds, waders, and ocean goers. I’m really looking forward to it. I’m going to try and post about once a week so look for my Everglades run-down on either next Tuesday or Wednesday. Thanks for reading and please share any comments or questions as they come up.