Excellent post, Chris, thought provoking for all of us. I agree with you
that the real point of birding should be to appreciate the birds for
themselves and to extend that respect to all creatures, although I admit
that I have a hard time appreciating stink bugs.
By the way, there was a show on TV a couple of weeks ago about a man who
raised a flock of wild turkeys, and was "buddies' with a young male. They
hung out in the woods for about 18 months, and then he said one day he
looked behind him for the bird, but instead of being behind him on the
ground it was in the air and attacked him. It seems the bird decided he
was a rival that day. The man had to hit the turkey to get it off him and
the bird flew away. The turkey had pretty much slashed his back. Watch out
for those gobblers!
Pat Valdata
Elkton, MD
On Thu, Feb 7, 2013 at 11:01 AM, Sarah Anderson <sarahb3...> wrote:
> Possibly the best posting I've ever seen on a birding listserve. Thankyou for such an insightful, humble and humorous posting.
>
> FYI, I have seen wild tom turkeys start to strut, fan, wing drag and otherwise
> display at exactly this time of year, in Michigan, with a foot of snow on
> the ground. Something about Valentine's Day!
>
> Not to sound too much like the Deadhead that I am: I bird to commune
> with nature, to return to the wild, to educate myself about the earth and
> her miracles, and most importantly to hopefully develop, nurture, and
> maintain a grounded centered egoless sense of existence and place among
> everyone and everything that surrounds me.
>
>
> Me too. I'm a birder and a photographer and while I want "the good
> shot" I prefer to immerse myself in an environment as unobtrusively as
> possible in order to observe natural behavior in hopes of seeing
> interesting things and understanding things better. I probably spend
> more time looking around, rather than through, my camera. It can be really
> boring for people who come with me if they are not of a similar mind
> set.
>
> Thanks for your post, Chris!!
>
> Sarah
> www.sarahanderson.net
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Chris Starling <cstar.email...>
> To: <Mdbirding...> <mdbirding...>; Starling,
> Christopher Mr CIV USA IMCOM <christopher.starling...>
> Sent: Thu, Feb 7, 2013 2:12 am
> Subject: [MDBirding] My thoughts on birding behavior... also RUBL and
> "Yankee Robin" in Harford County
>
> Greetings:
> I hope this comes across as I intend, provides a new sperspective, entices
> at least someone to think differrently, and/or makes at leasr SOME sense.
> If this fails in any or all of these regards, you can surely blame Sean
> McCandless... (kidding, of course... -no I'm not).
>
> First things first (what a ridiculous idiom):
> Yesterday (5 February), at work �which for me is the secure area of the
> Edgewood portion of Aberdeen Proving Ground, I had a small group of Rusty
> Blackbirds feeding along the side of the road just south of Watson's Creek.
> It was accompanied by a large group of Robins, mixed sparrows (WTSP and
> SOSP), Cardinals, four or five Flickers, and at least three Hermit Thrushes.
>
>
> Throughout the morning, I continued to come across variously sized robin
> flocks. Almost always these Robin flocks included a Hermit Thrush or two,
> with one group possesses four of these wide-eyed birds. Just guessing, I
> probably had 10-15 Hermit Thrushes throughout the day. Is this relatively
> high number a result of a little snow in the woods, or is this a sign of a
> late push south �perhaps an early push north�(?)
>
> In addition to the Hermit Thrushes, one group of Robins that I came across
> foraging in the leaf litter along the road edges contained a conspicuous
> yet beautiful individual bird that I did not immediately ID as a Robin
> (thought it may be a blackbird as it quickly flushed). Once it landed, I
> was able to observe that this bird's prominence was due to its jet-black
> hood and nape. The deep negative-space defining black of this individual
> continued halfway down its back eventually fading into the more usual
> charcoal-black hue of his flock-mates.
>
> Was this a true black-backed Robin or �Yankee-Robin� (Turdus migratorius
> nigidius) or just a darker variant run-of-the-mill rockin� red-breast? I�ve
> seen plenty of dark black-hooded robins, but this is probably the most
> conspicuously and extensively dark black-headed and black-backed robin that
> I can remember seeing. �well, at least that�s my story anyway (and I�m
> sticking to it �unless someone convinces me otherwise)!
>
> Yesterday, also while at work, I came across five of the 100s (1000s?) of
> Turkeys that strut around the proving ground (same general area as the
> previously mentioned Rusty Blackbirds but a little further south). Of
> these birds, four were adult Toms complete with internal-organ-looking
> wattles, round plump postures, drawn out heavy tails, and very long coarse
> hairy beards.
> Napoleon Dynamite might have added that they had talons -you know, like
> chickens... The lone female in the group seemed quite content with her
> assortment of bodyguards� -Meleagris upland celebrity diva fowl sp.? -But
> was she lip-synching???
>
>
> Anyway, this brings me to my anecdote regarding the disturbance of animal
> habitat�
>
> In retrospect, I realize that something I did while viewing these Turkeys
> was probably not the most sensible thing I could have done regarding the
> Turkey�s stress level. After viewing these birds for half a minute or
> so, I let out a poor but apparently affective quick single imitation of the
> hen's "kerrcck�kerrcck�kerrcck" call. This caused three of the Toms to
> separate from the group which was about 50 feet away. Two of the Toms were
> quite pissed-off at my vocalization and came right up to my vehicle's open
> window. Luckily, I was in an SUV. Had I been in a lower-to-the-ground
> car, I am certain they would have tried to jump in and rearrange my ride's
> interior...
>
> These two large brave Toms stayed next to my vehicle for a full two or
> three minutes while I sat there at half an arm�s reach away quietly
> watching them -amazed at how close they were, and of course wishing I had
> my camera as they continued to posture, fan their fantastically hued tails,
> flick their blood-red snoods around and "gobble" at me. I�ve seen
> turkeys do this before, but there was something in the largest Tom�s
> presence that just seemed elevated �like he was trying to read my eyes. Was
> I on his level or he on mine?
>
> As I began to inch away, they matched my pace yard for yard until I got up
> to about 5 MPH. After I was 75 to 100 feet away from them, I stopped again,
> opened my door, and got out to better view them: they were back-li before.
> As soon as I shut the car door and took a half step away from the truck,
> the "Alpha-male" (lol) charged me and my vehicle. To say was I
> intimidated would be an understatement, especially when I failed to
> successfully grab the door's latch and make an quick affective leap back
> into the relative safety of my trusty fire department SUV... -I have
> this reoccurring lucid dream of being chased and not being able to run
> away: for a moment, I was living that dream/nightmare. -lol...
>
> I was very surprised by the brazenness of these birds. For one, this
> species is heavily hunted on the proving ground and I would think that they
> would be aware of our species. Additionally, I thought it to be quite a bit
> early for such an impressive show of what I imagine was a
> hormonal/territorial display.
>
> As I mentioned, this all happened yesterday, before the fallout
> regarding the Long-eared Owl appeared on my radar. Had I read the
> discussion and dialogue about the owl's roost destruction, I would have
> likely not been so quick to give my little imitation call: which in honesty
> was done more-or-less as a self-entertaining joke... I never thought my
> action would have provoked such an intimidating response. I believe my
> imitation caused this very wild bird (not tame at all) to be unnecessarily
> distressed on his/their potential/probably breeding grounds as well.
>
> I know that stressing out a Turkey, albeit inadvertently, in an area where
> Turkeys number well into the in the high hundreds isn�t the same as cutting
> branches from a Long-eared Owl roost site and I realize that Meleagris
> deliciouso (lol) isn�t really considered a �sensitive� taxon -per say, but
> to me, our effect on wildlife/ecology shouldn�t be quantified or qualified
> as a measure of a species� sensitivity. Understand that I am a huge
> proponent for hyper-awareness when dealing rare, endangered, threatened, or
> easily distressed species but I feel that in regards to conservation, more
> thought and consideration should be given to every action we make while n
> the field, specifically it is intentionally aimed towards maximizing one's
> observation of wildlife.
>
> Having read the email chain concerning the repulsive act at the Long-eared
> Owl roost, one important lesson that I was reminded of once I had a chance
> to process my Turkey terror encounter is that our impact on bird behavior,
> bird stress, and the well being of wildlife in general is far more reaching
> than most of us realize. Overly 'pishing' for birds is probably not good
> for the well being of a bird�s psychological state (does that sound crazy).
> In the future, I know I will surely be double (and triple) thinking
> about whether or not I really need to spend five minutes getting that
> Cuckoo down to eye level, or imitating a screech owl in order to pull those
> hidden warblers out of the tree tops, playing a tape to draw that distant
> calling screech owl closer in hopes of seeing it's big yellow eyes staring
> back at me.
>
> According to what I have learned about society and culture from folks
> who have devoted their lives to such wonderings, one of the most
> unfortunate qualities of the human condition is an unnecessary desire to
> acquire �things� without first thinking of or not being concerned about the
> affects of our actions�
>
>
> We are birders, lovers of nature -isn't that the original reason that we
> got into this activity. Is ticking every species or as many species of
> bird -rare, uncommon, or plentiful in an area so important that we should
> risk disturbing them: even if it's just for a moment. There are a lot of
> birders around. That adds up to a lot of disturbing "moments" for our
> little feathered buddies... Why isn�t it enough to just be content that
> you�ve seen a species sensitive once or maybe two or three times? What
> good is it serving for one to say that they have seen a Cardinal in every
> county, an Upland Sandpiper in fifteen counties, and a Long-eared Owl in
> six counties? Surely the perfect photograph of a Long-eared Owl exists.
> Why not just admire that photograph? While I get it on some level, I
> don�t fully relate to the importance of a hobbyist needing to take an
> equally �perfect� Long-eared Owl photograph when one already exists for
> them to admire?
>
> Also, please don�t misunderstand what I am trying to convey, I TOTALLY get
> the thrill of the conquest to see birds -the friendly �chases� and a chance
> to one-up a chum or mate; after all, I keep lists: a life list and a yard
> list; and now thanks to eBird, I am now inadvertently keeping hemisphere,
> ABA, country, state, county, bathroom, underwater, and dead bird lists (I
> think).
>
> I even spend full days -like during the seasonal counts, the rarity
> round-ups, or on big-days, trying to see as many species as possible. Its
> fun, exciting, keeps me going: I get it!!! And, I am not passing
> judgment on passionate �listers,� without them what would Steve Martin,
> Jack Black, and Owen Wilson do? -oh wait� ;-)
>
> �It�s just that to me, or perhaps �for me,� as soon as I become
> consistently worried about getting access to that reclusive guy�s Rufous
> Hummingbird, ensuring that I�m on the right group�s secret RBA notification
> list, getting a better-than-the-next-guy�s photograph of that hidden Winter
> Wren�s nestlings, or making it to X number of species for the
> day/week/month/year/eon/epoch, then it will be time for me to rethink my
> priorities.
>
> Not to sound too much like the Deadhead that I am: I bird to commune with
> nature, to return to the wild, to educate myself about the earth and her
> miracles, and most importantly to hopefully develop, nurture, and maintain
> a grounded centered egoless sense of existence and place among everyone and
> everything that surrounds me.
>
> Now, I'm not advocating that we shouldn't bird or even chase rarities;
> but, I do think that a little less selfish behavior and a little more self
> awareness of our personal impact, as well as our collective impact on
> wildlife and wildlife habitat, would not only be prudent but also serve as
> an important step towards ensuring that the consequence of our natural
> exploration is as constructive and positive as possible.
>
> Rock on!
>
> -If I wasn�t entirely clear (and I am sure that I wasn�t), feel free to
> call me. I�d happily discuss this more �in person.� - Zen and the art
> of birdwatching with cstar� lovely. Reply off line and I'll send you my
> number.
>
> Also, if I came off in any way obtuse or otherwise insulting it is
> probably Sean McCandless� fault -I mentioned this before. To borrow from
> the great orator Peter Griffin, that guy (Sean McCandless) really �grinds
> my gears.� Seriously though, I meant NO one any disrespect nor was I
> passing judgment on anyone�s choice of birding methodology. If it makes
> you happy, it definately makes me happy as long as your not disrespecting,
> distressing, or otherwise causing harm to anyone (or anything)!
>
> So, who can point me towards a Piping Plover nest? ;-)
>
> Good (and conscientious) birding, my friends!
>
> peace, namaste~
> Chris Starling
> North East, MD
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