 |
| This gull has wintered in Ninigret Pond for the past 14 years. |
The Dowitcher was handed to me. When I got to Green End Pond in Middletown my friends Jan and Linda were on the bird. I looked into their scope and there it was. Not a lot of skill going into that one. It has been a long time since I found my own new bird. Even seeing "good birds" that are already checked off of my list have been rare. Basically, I'm in a slump.
The last three weeks of October are known as "Sparrow Season" to birders. The majority of sparrows that migrate come through at that time. I am not a fan of sparrow season. They are little brown birds that hide in tall grass and shrubs. They would rather stay hidden than be seen out in the open. They are a pain in the ass. Lastly, some of them are pretty rare such as Vesper and Lincoln's. Only a few are going to be seen (One Vesper so far). If I'm working, I have no chance of seeing it after work. Plus it gets dark so early that birding is near impossible after work, and sparrows are much more active in the morning anyway. Enough complaining
Lester
After a bad couple of weeks birding, I needed to figure out a way to have fun. I decided I needed to take more photos even if it is of birds I already had photos of. I went to Trustom and found some Yellow Rumped Warblers, they are very common but I was happy to see them. Later in the day I met my friend Sue at Ninigret. When we were at the boat ramp we saw "Lester". Lester is a Lesser Black Backed Gull (LBBG from now on). LBBGs are native to Europe and northern Canada. They will occasionally stray down to Rhode Island and other places. They are a bird you would probably see every year, but only a couple.
That is except Lester. This bird has been coming to Grassy Point in Ninigret Salt Pond for 14 years in a row! He comes by himself and stays the winter. It is the same bird every year. No one seems to know why he keeps coming back or where he goes in the summer. But he is reliable. Sue and I walked out to Grassy Point with the sun at our back and took photos of the gull for ten minutes. Despite how dependable Lester is, the species is rare in Rhode Island. It felt nice to see a "good bird" even if I saw him last January.
Lesson #1
I left at dawn and got home well after dark. I obviously got hungry and thirsty. I stopped at the convenient store and bought a couple Gatorades and a snack. For lunch I stopped at the locally famous (featured on Phantom Gourmet) Tillys for a steak and cheese sub. No one can argue a steak and cheese for lunch. But all told, including gas, I spent over $40 birding today. Most of that was a waste of money. For now on I have to do a better job buying my drinks at Stop and Shop and making lunch at home. There is no need to piss money away just to chase birds.
Lesson #2
I meant it above when I said I really don't enjoy sparrow season. However, I feel that if I am going to do a Big Year then I really need to put forth effort all year. So I have been to Snake Den about a dozen times. Snake Den is the best place in RI to see sparrows, but I have been other places also. I only have about 5 more weeks this year to chase because I will be in Florida for two weeks in November. I have 280 birds so far. I know 290 is probably impossible, but 285 is within reach so I might as well try.
However, next year my goal will not be to see as many species as I can. I think I will still try for 250, but I won't beat myself up or my car to chase every bird. I'm sure I'll bird all winter because there isn't much else to do. I'm also sure May days off will be chasing all the colors of migrants. But there will be more fishing. Hopefully there will be more hiking.
What I will remember is the last couple weeks of October will only be spent chasing birds if I want to. I blew off two "trips" to bird the last two weeks. Last week I wanted to go pike fishing in NH. This week my goal was to try to catch spawning Kokanees in Connecticut. Last week the mornings were forecasted to be cold in NH and that easily convinced me to stay home. Today was beautiful and would have been a glorious day to fish in Connecticut. The thought of the five hour round trip turned me off to that idea. That said, I regret not doing either trip.
So next October I am going to try to schedule those trips again. Maybe the long rides will turn me off again. Maybe the weather will suck and I can't go anyway. What I do know is I won't stay home just to look for a Lincoln's Sparrow. There is a very good possibility a Vesper, Clay-Colored, Lark, or Lincoln's Sparrow will show up while I'm away. But unlike this year, I won't care if I miss a bird!
 |
| One of the many Yellow Rumped Warblers at Trustom Pond |
No comments:
Post a Comment