Please bird mindfully
By Team eBird
March 27, 2020
March 27, 2020
For birders, one way to get through this period is to spend time outdoors enjoying birds—just remember to keep health and safety your top priorities. Follow the recommendations of your local health authorities at all times, even if it means staying at home and focusing on your yard or garden list instead.
Full article below
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| N.A.B. (Not a Bird) Douglas Squirrel |
Vortex Rocks
Two months ago I dropped my Vortex Diamondback bins, they wouldn't focus so I sent them back to Vortex Canada. Vortex is well known for offering a lifetime guarantee so I put it to the test. The process was simple. The cost of shipping is covered by the owner and the return shipping by the company which is fair. Meanwhile my birding buddy and neighbour Carlo G saved the day and lent me his old bins so I could continue birding. Imagine my surprise when a month later the front bell rang and the courier handed me a box. What I found inside was not my old battered pair but a brand new and undated version off my old bins.
Thanks Vortex, you made my day.
Customer for life.
John Gordon (JOGO)
The Songster
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| Bewick's Wren |
Another bird song I have mastered this year is the Bewick's Wren. During winter the call is very recognizable, the song even more distinctive. That's how I found and photographed this bird.
Garbage and Birds
The birding was amazing. Sandee my wife, a non-birder and I visited Surrey's Latimer Lake Park. It's our way of trying to bird closer to home and spending more time together. While I leisurely birded Sandee scoured the trails for litter. It drives her nuts to see how loutish some people are. One has to wonder what type of thinking, if any these people have when they're not busy throwing aways their paper wrappers, coffee mugs and cigarette butts. It boggles the mind. Please don't get me going on the crappy dog walkers who leave their poopy bags on the trail or hanging in bushes like gaudy Christmas ornaments.
After a few hours birding we counted the total number of species of birds I had seen and she the bags of garbage collected. Her count was three to my twenty-one. I conceded that her effort far outweighed mine. We were both more than happy as we headed back to the car. When I went to put away my camera I noticed I had lost the lens hood.
As we retraced our steps I suddenly heard a Hutton's Vireo. While I was hard at work looking for any movements in the bushes Sandee returned with the lost hood. Brilliant!
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| Hutton's Vireo. Note the broken eye-ring and olive colouring. |
Finally I spotted the bird, but in the excitement of the moment I managed to get my camera and bins in a tangle, loosing sight of the bird and almost choking myself in the process. When I untangled myself I needed to make sure it wasn't a similar looking Ruby-crowned Kinglet, a mistake I've made numerous times before. I scanned the bushes again, found the bird and fired off a few shots.
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| Changing the background was as simple as moving a few steps sideways. The cottonwood made for a pleasant backdrop.. |
The curved at the end of the bill and lack of black bar on the base of the secondaries sealed the deal, it wasn't a kinglet.
Final Frame
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| Golden-crowned Kinglet |
Just a few feet away from the car I spotted a Golden-crowned Kinglet perched in the foliage of the flowering Indian Plum. It seemed transfixed, allowing me to fire off few frames before finally calling it a day.
All pix Nikon Coolpix P1000
"It's never too late to pick-up garbage"
John Gordon
Langley/Cloverdale
BC Canada