Not to anthropomorphize but I think this Blue Jay and I might be feeling the same:
Kinda out-of-focus.
A little confused.
In ponder mode.

 
            

You’ll need your imagination for this.
Number one on the list is imagining I have an awesome camera.

Okay, imagine a feeder filled with American Goldfinches.
Next, picture a much larger Flicker flying in to land on the feeder, scattering goldfinches.
Pause a split second as The Bravest Goldfinch of All returns to the feeder.
Imagine a couple more goldfinches tentatively returning. 
Hop.  Hop.
Count to ten and watch the Flicker fly off again as a mini-swarm of goldfinches,
brave and not-so-brave, returns.

         

                                                    photo © Ryan Houston

I don’t know what’s going on here today but I’m flicker-rich right now.  

They’re hopping on my roof, sitting on my deck and fence, eating at my feeder, poking
at the ground, flying to and fro, driving my cat, Lebowski, mad.

          

This morning I got up at 4:45 in order to join the local Audubon group for its 27th Annual Spring Bird Count.  I got to where I was supposed to be a couple minutes past 6:00.  A little bleary and slightly anxious since it had rained in the night and I wasn’t able to find my rain pants before I left and had forgotten gloves.  And hadn’t packed a lunch or snacks since I didn’t realize it was a 5-6 hour hike. 

But those worries faded when I met the friendly master birder leader-guy who got very excited when he learned I’d never participated in a bird count before.  He introduced me to the rest of the group, all seasoned birders, and said, “She’s got a good pair of binoculars so she must know what a bird is.”

Gotta love a man who admires your bins.

The birds were singing their little hearts out from the moment we started.  I heard many but cannot yet identify them.  (Maybe

 could give us a tutorial.  Snicker.)

This is a who’s who of what I saw (master birder leader-guy told me up front I might only see a quarter of what the rest of them saw):

• Say’s Phoebe
• Cowbirds (in a group of 3-4)
• Yellow-breasted Chat
• Kingbird
• Red-winged Blackbird (many throughout morning, singing a song I know)
• Red-tailed Hawk in its nest
• Great Blue Heron (saw three herons or maybe the same one three times)
• Starlings
• Robins
• Flicker

The big excitement happened when one woman announced she’d possibly sighted a Hepatic Tanager which is not usually found in Colorado.  The master birder leader-gal (who is married to the master birder leader-guy) whipped out her walkie talkie to call the other group which was covering a different portion of habitat.  Much activity ensued as we were instructed to call out any details we saw (light bill; red on top of rump; orange-ish underneath rump; etc) as others checked guide books and one man went back to parking lot for his scoping lense and  the other group hurried to join us as  master birder leader-gal called out “Does anyone have a Western Sibley?” (which is the authority in field guides).  It was like an episode of ER except without the blood and guts and blue scrubs.  After a half-hour watching this extremely cooperative bird hop about in plain view from trunk to branch as it caught insects, it was decreed a Summer Tanager.  I gather that’s not quite as exciting as a Hepatic but also rare so will be reported to the rare bird hotline or some such.

Continuing on, I saw:

• Yellow Warbler
• Bullock’s Orioles (2 males and 1 female who watched as the males chased each other)
• Spotted Towhees (2 males carrying nest materials)
• Yellow-rumped Warbler
• Song Sparrow (which has one dark spot on its white chest, an identifying feature I think I’ve internalized and will know from now on!)
• Cowbird (through the scope which was very cool although it would’ve been cooler seeing a cowbird lay its eggs in another bird’s nest)
• Evening Grosbeaks

About this time the master birder leader-gal said, “There goes an American Finch saying ‘potato chip’ as it flies over head” and as I struggled to hear it she said, “Gone.”

• Turkey Vulture (although I couldn’t see its red head through my bins)
• Orange-crowned Warbler (whose orange crown is impossible to see in the field so how they knew that’s what it was is beyond me; something to do with wing bars or something)
• Long-eared Owl (sitting in nest so that I could only see one ear and the top of its head but it was still a thrill.  Seriously)

Birders are some of the nicest people you’ll meet.  They made sure I saw what they were looking at and answered all my questions and pointed out differences in bird songs (too bad I immediately forgot them and/or confused them with another).  If I hadn’t been so cold and hungry I would’ve stuck around for the whole outing.  As it was, at 9:45 I thanked them for a wonderful morning and headed back to my car. 

Next time I’ll come prepared.  Who knows what they saw after I left?

            

This is a Spotted Towhee (image found on photobucket). I happened to glance out my window today and saw a bird hopping around my backyard. I grabbed my binoculars but instead of getting overwhelmed the way I usually do as I try to remember every little detail, I recited them aloud: Black head and neck, white chest, white spots on wings, white on tip of tail, red eyes.

Then he flew away. But when I picked up my bird guide and thumbed through, I found a match. And sure enough, the description matched mine.

That, my friends, was a very satisfying birding moment for this bad birdwatcher.

It’s been Robin-Mania around here the past week or so but none of my pics turned out so I borrowed this one from Photobucket. 
Robins are such fun and they make me smile.  Every time.
Wishing all a wonderful weekend.