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 "Witchities" World Series of Birding Blog |
Of White-tailed Hawks and Temptationby Ian LynchAt choir rehearsal tonight, one of the basses asked me, "So, did you see the White-tailed Hawk?" To which I replied, "Of course!" What is remarkable about that exchange (beyond the fact that we were in Massachusetts, not southern Texas) is that he even asked me about it since I had mentioned the rarity in the area. I'll have to ask him the next time I see him how he even knew about it, since he is not a hard core birding nut case like me. Being bird-obsessed, it was no big surprise that I had chased this very surprisingly out of range bird that was less than an hour from my house. In fact, it is also of little surprise that I got the information via email on my cell phone about an hour before the owner of a local bird store called me with the same information. Heck, in this high-tech information driven world I guess we all will soon no longer be surprised by the easy access to information no matter how obscure.
I'm counting on this come World Series time. I always tell people that there is no excuse for not knowing where all the birds are in New Jersey come game day, the hard part is deciding how to connect all those dots...or more realistically, how many are feasible to attempt. When it comes time to make that decision, cold, hard calculating hearts and nerves of steel are demanded. Rare birds and oddities will always hold power in the mind and imagination of a birder, but on Big Day they all count the same. Not only that, but only the first one counts. So a dozen Roseate Spoonbills would be of no greater value than a single Carolina Chickadee (a bird we somehow missed in a blunder of gargantuan proportions last year). Two years ago we took the gamble of chasing the very sexy Purple Gallinule, but only because the Wetlands Institute held the promise of additional species and fit into our route. Still, the siren call of the rare bird is hard to ignore. So I guess I should be thankful that I saw the White-tailed Hawk in Hadley, MA on Saturday not only because it hasn't been reported since Monday, but also because there is now one (oh yeah, we all have guessed that it is the same one) being reported from--are you ready for this?--the Great Swamp in New Jersey, where we typcally begin at midnight! I wonder how a White-tailed Hawk looks in night vision binoculars? No, we'll be strong (or we'll tie each other to the mast) and we'll resist, after all some members of this team have already seen this bird! :-D 12:36 AM - Thursday, April 27, 2006 - post comment
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Description This blog will feature information on the Friends of Salem Woods Wicked Witchities, a birding team competing in the New Jersey Audubon Society's World Series of Birding on May 13, 2006. We will include information on our past experiences, preparation for next year's event, scouting tips, photos of locales, and ending with live updates from the field on the day of the World Series. Home User Profile Archives Friends NJAS World Series Site Recent Entries - Big Day minus one - WSB scouting - WSB Monday - Hallucinations and Hope - White-tailed Hawk Update |