Bird Geek Heaven - Chambers Lake and Exton Park

Birding, like many things, can mark the time. Please indulge me for a sentence or two.

I've recently have had an epiphany. That word is so dramatic, but I don't know what else one would call a deepening spiritual understanding. This ties to my birding in a really ironic and...dare I say "blessed" way.

In the same timeline as my epiphany,  I've seen the following fantastic, rare, uncommon, lifer birds during a handful of visits to Chambers Lake and Exton Park.

1. Nelson's Sparrow
2. Clay-colored Sparrow
3. Sandhill Crane
4. Stilt Sandpiper
5. Pectoral Sandpiper
6. Vesper Sparrow

Do non-birders realize that some of us birders will actually high-five, fist-pump and/or literally hoot and holler when we get a new or rare bird? That's how I celebrate it. I imagine it looks odd when some car is driving by and they see a guy making karate chop motions at his thighs toward a lake. What can I say, I'm emotional. I can't help but thinking that this is God's way of giving me a reminder. (Not to mention the miraculous win that my Nittany Lions had in 4 overtimes against Michigan.)

Back to the birds...

The bird most folks would get excited about is the Sandhill Crane. The reason? Because it's big! Big birds are dramatic and surprising. This guy below is about 4 feet tall with a wingspan of 7 feet.They are bigger than Great Blue Herons.

Sandhill Crane - photo by Brian Raicich

I'm pretty sure that all of the other birds on my list wouldn't get much of a second glance from a non-birder. I'll admit, if they weren't rare or uncommon in my neck of the woods I probably wouldn't be as excited. But in my game the uncommon makes it so much more fun an exciting. This also forces me to slow down, take a closer look and remember (again) about the beauty in the details and the beauty in the mundane.

The Nelson's sparrow sighting took on an extra meaning too. I ran into a guy I met once before. Jeff Loomis is an amazing photographer and I've been following him on Flickr for a couple of years. I hadn't seen him in awhile and we struck up a conversation about our kids and their special needs. It was one of those random chats that can occasionally happen with people where you dive immediately into something meaningful and person. During this chat Jeff spotted a suspicious looking sparrow. After 45 mins of waiting it popped out and showed us that it was a Nelson's sparrow. Karma?  (I should note that this bird popped out 10 seconds after my friend BQ showed up. That's serious karma!).

My photo above isn't great, but you can see the yellow/orange on the head, throat and chest. It's subtle but it's still beautiful. To truly appreciate it take a look here http://www.jimburnsphotos.com/pages/nelsonssharptailedsparrow.html

Yes, I felt lucky, blessed and surprised once again by the beauty under my nose.