Don's Jersey Birding: Finding the Right Birding Buddy, Part 2
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Birding Buddies, Don and Peggy.
Photo Courtesy of Mike Malzone
Jen K. wrote to me and said, “A birding buddy should understand the importance of birding etiquette. They should respect the unwritten code of not making obnoxious bird calls and shouldn’t say they saw more birds than were actually there." These are all good points but being that code is, at least as of now, “unwritten”, I reserve the right to amend it. For example, if I accidentally step on a yellow jacket nest, I reserve the right to scream like a Barn Owl no matter how obnoxious it may sound. If we can amend the Constitution of the United States, I think we can amend that rule, can’t we? I would also like to add something for at least a slight exaggeration; what fun is it if I can’t say I saw a bazillion Least Sandpipers at the Meadowlands? I mean I really can’t count them anyway can I?
Pat wrote to tell me that her husband likes when she calls out a raptor alert and gives the clock position of a sighting to him while he is driving. Good idea! I think a birding buddy in the passenger seat should be fitted with an old WWI leather flying hat and goggles and be the designated navigator; they could yell out things like Red-Tail at twelve o’clock high! It would add to the excitement for sure. While we are on the subject of cars, I think that a birding buddy should subject their cars to a motor vehicle inspection. I recommend this because I once went birding all day with a nice man, and when we were ready to leave he said, “By the way I don’t have reverse my car”. This came as a bit of an annoyance to me since we were on a dirt road facing down hill. I guess he felt the need for a functioning transmission was not really needed to help us identify Warblers that morning.
Then, there is my good friend Jeff, who says that a good birding buddy should know more than you do. Boy, I can’t agree with that one more. I mean, if my birding buddies didn’t know more than me, it would just make me look bad. After all, how else could I look like an expert when leading a field trip if my birding buddy didn’t tell me what that distant raptor is that is about the size of a head of a pin? That is a given! Jeff went on to say that he thought Julie was a great birding buddy because she had a ton of knowledge and they enjoyed themselves when birding together. And after all, isn’t that what it’s all about, enjoying ourselves?
It doesn’t really matter how much your birding buddy knows, what kind of binoculars they use, or how old or young they are. All that matters is that the time spent in the field with your friend is a memorable one. If you happen to see a rare bird or the lifer you have been waiting to see for years and your best birding buddy isn’t there, it’s really not nearly as exciting. It’s our friends that make birding the enjoyable life experience that it is, the birds just help add to the memories.
Don Torino is the Education Chairperson for Bergen County Audubon Society.
Categories: Don's Jersey Birding
Tags: birding meadowlands least sandpiper red tail hawks warbler
Don- good to the birds and to the other birders.
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