Sunday 24 October 2010

Birders - a breed apart


Generalising, birders are frequently aged geeks! I am proud to be part of their rank!

Today I took the Follow that Bird bus with ten other birders, and together with our guides, Janene and Edwin, drove up to Howes Swamp in the Yengo National Park off the Putty Road near the Colo River. In total we saw 73 species, hearing another 19 species. We also saw a Black Wallaby, a Lace Monitor, a European Fox, and numerous butterflies.

Needless to say, I did not see this many species. I am a rank amateur, but will work on my skills until I can see when the bleeding obvious is pointed out to me.

My next birding excursion will be to Lord Howe Island at the end of February. In the meantime, I will practice my skills with some early morning outings in Centennial Park over the summer. I also am desperate to get myself one of those binocular halters, and one of those birding vests. Green with envy I am!

18 comments:

Stephanie V said...

What a great thing to have: a Follow That Bird bus. Your birding excursion sounds fabulous. It's always nice to have knowledgeable guides to help identify quickly. I'm pretty slow.

And I'm looking for that binocular halter - a good idea!

Anonymous said...

Here on Lolland we have a great deal of speciel birds around Maribo Lakes and on small islands there. From all Denmark young and old photographers, proff as well as amateurs, come to spend many hours/days taking shots.
All best wishes for your next tour :-D

Jo said...

How great to have experienced birders to "teach" you, Julie. I struggle along on my own, although my husband has a very sharp eye and can remember the details for later ID'ing (size of bird, beak shape, tail length, etc) I am the excited/excitable birder who spots them first and then he go through the book. We spotted many different birds, therefore Lifers, in the Sudan. Now we look forward to more biking trips to find "different" birds in SA. Have a great day. Jo (now South Africa)

Kay L. Davies said...

Looks like a beautiful place for a walk, birds or no birds, Julie, but I can see you were with some serious experts. Yes, I think you should have the vest and the halter. Might as well be as comfortable as possible, as I always say when it comes to straying from home.

Kay, Alberta

TheChieftess said...

Your candid people photos are marvelous, as usual!!!

Stefan Jansson said...

Geeks they are, but I have also met a few young birders. Some good photos here.

Julie said...

Steffe, you are right. We had three people with us yesterday who were under 50! But the vein of interests were similar.

On the bus on the way home, half of us had the most exhilarating conversation about education, class structure within an egalitarian society. Don't get that opportunity to rub intellectual horns much nowadays and I miss it and value it.

Susan Ellis said...

I'm a confirmed birder, and all of our vacations are planned around seeing birds...the people we've met have been amazing, and the places we've been spectacular! And -all ages have been present and accounted for. Welcome to the club!

Joan Elizabeth said...

Sounds like fun, I did quite a lot of bird spotting back when I wasn't working and walked every morning. Will get back to it one day.

The problem with your bird spotting may be that you are doing too much people spotting with your camera.

Bill said...

Lord Howe Island is a paradise for twitchers, chasing Mutton Birds, you'll love it.

Julie said...

Joan, indeed, they proved a better target for my increasingly wobbly hold on the camera. I got lots of people, wildflowers, leaf litter, trunk scribbles. You name it ... just few good shots of birdies ...

Ann said...

Lord Howe is amazing, a true paradise and my favourite place in this country. Unfortunatly I haven't been there since I learnt to take a half way decent photo.

diane b said...

Birds are fun to watch and would be good to do it with people in the know. I would like to wander down that track.

Peter said...

You will have to go on twitter!

Julie said...

*chuckle*

brattcat said...

coo...

Francisca said...

I could see doing this kind of activity, for the fresh air, for the beauty of birds, for the friendship, but I could never see myself learning the names... Julie, I can't even remember my friend's names sometimes! It's a real embarrassment at times. But Julie... class structure within an egalitarian society??? What are you thinking? :-D

Julie said...

*grin* ... it was quite wide-ranging and very contrary. It compared England, India and Australia. With pros and cons for public, private and church schools. And the importance of family line, and money, and merit.

Quite exhilaratig ... would have been nice for my daughter to have had her tuppence worth to get the view of that generation.