Lead or Follow? - (Rushton Farms)

It's easy to cheat if you want to cheat.

If you ever played golf you know what I mean.  You hit the ball into a pile of raked leaves. "Oh that's a leaf ball I can get a free drop." or "it's winter rules" on a course that's in a little rough shape. You can even start to rationalize in your head why it's not cheating.  But in the end you are the only judge.

This holds true for birding too. The classic "cheat" is to ID a bird without being truly certain. Sometimes it's hard not to rationalize what you saw into something you want to see.  To help this some folks use try to have at least 2 identifying characteristics that make the ID.  But this isn't always the case. I know what a Cardinal sounds like. I can ID that just by hearing the call and I know for certain. But if I see a new bird, especially one that's harder to ID, I'll try to get photo evidence and get confirmation from other birders.  Many of the flycatchers that are common in the Northeast are so hard to tell apart you can only do it by hearing the call or getting DNA evidence.

Then there is the in between stuff.

My friend Brian Raicich contacted me with great excitement the other day about tons of warblers in Rushton farms. "Mike, I used to hear people say that the trees are dripping with warblers and I never really knew what they meant until yesterday at Rushton. We have to go there tomorrow morning". Of course I was up for it, so the next day I met him there at about 7 am. Brian told me he was going crazy with his camera and took hundreds of shots of the many warblers he saw the other day. He said there were so many that he had to use the photos  to ID them later. He confessed that it felt a little like cheating.

Personally I don't think that's cheating at all. He saw the bird and was able to provide evidence. Plus, warblers in the fall don't have their full breeding plumage and it makes their differences very subtle. Take a look at this link and you will see what I mean.

Link to fall warbler guide

Sadly that day we didn't get much. It's like that sometimes. Some days are amazing and rich and some days...with the same circumstances it's nothing.

But I'm obsessed so I show up the very next morning alone to try again. I arrive at 7 am again and start walking and looking. I wait at the same tree where Brian original had his warbler fest. Nothing.

I walk all over the property for 45 minutes. Nothing. I take a few photos of the golden rod to amuse myself. But I want warblers.

Sometimes the nothing times allow me to be introspective. That's not always a good thing. Today I start questioning myself about following Brian's discovery. Shouldn't I blaze my own trail? Shouldn't I try to find my own sightings instead of just chasing where others have gone? Is that cheating? Wouldn't I rather be a leader than a follower. Of course I start to globalize all my thoughts and think about how this applies to all my interactions. Then again, I have been a leader. I've made the discoveries and I have been first before!

So I mentally smack myself in the head. "Stop beating youself up Mike!"

I start to think about leaving and then they start coming. It's around 7:45 am and in the same area Brian showed me the previous day the warblers start coming in. It only lasts for about five minutes but I'm frantically trying to ID and shoot some photos.

- Black and White
- Black throated Green
- Redstart
- Magnolia
- Chestnut sided
- Common Yellowthroat

It's not as rich as Brian's day but pretty amazing for me none the less. I mistakenly IDed some of these birds at the time but was able to clarify later with my birding friends.

Magnolia Warbler - fall

Chestnut-sided - fall

 

I walk away from the morning of birding very satisfied. In the end who cares how you see these interesting beautiful creatures. It's about the appreciation and the game.

 

 

I love migration.

 



I didn't have to sneak in this time (Longwood Gardens)

We have a family membership to Longwood Gardens and I think it's well worth it. But it wasn't always that way. When I was 16 my buddy and I were into 35mm photography. We thought Longwood would be a great place to practice our "art". Mostly our photos were attempts at art, humor or something surreal. Longwood seemed like a perfect place. Even then I leaned toward nature photography trying hard to capture wildlife photos with a 80-200 mm zoom on my Canon AE-1. However, when we tried to enter imagine our surprise when they actually wanted money! I was 16 and barely had money for film and processing, let alone paying to see plants. We did what most red-blooded men children would do. We hopped the fence.

Me in the 80s, don't judge



 

 

After a nice, free afternoon of snapping wise ass shots like the one above, we left. I'm sure we were smug about our discount.

 

Fast forward to 2013.

 

It's a beautiful Friday and Tracy wants to have a date. I'm stressed about work, and even want to work a little that night but being the most excellent husband I say "sure". I was trying hard not to selfishly focus on birding. Sure, I'll look at the plants, sure I'll have dinner on the patio area, sure I'll listen to the bluegrass concert a little. So we went. Tracy is pretty cool about my crankiness and birding so she indulged me as we walked around.

 

Longwood is pretty cool. Obviously it's got the wild diversity with plants, but it also has a neat, international/hippie with money vibe. So, it culturally stimulating. And birds.

 

On the birding side, we saw a Scarlet Tanager among other birds. I barely reacted. Tracy was excited. This bird holds a special meaning. When Tracy and I were dating I turned her on to birding. She saw a photo of the Scarlet Tanager and wanted badly to see one. We listened to recordings of it's song. which is often described as a Robin with a sore throat. So, whenever we see one it's a big deal. Never mind that it's a truly beautiful bird.

 

Anyway, I finally chilled out as we walked and looking back realized that I must have been PMS or something NOT to appreciate that one. Here's a link to the bird if you don't know it. The male is bright, bright, red, with black wings. It's one of those birds that is common and turns someone into a birder when they see it.

 

Scarlet Tanager

 

 

My only Scarlet Tanager shot. I'd love to get a good one

 

I have to also admit that walking around, sipping beer, having dinner on the patio and listening to a little blue grass was cool too.