[obol] 10 Rulles for beginning birdwatchers

[Paul T. Sullivan]

OBOL:

In my earlier post " 'That's NOT a ______'.... (a word of caution)" I
mentioned an article in BirdWatcher's Digest.  I haven't found that article,
but the kind folks at BWD have pointed me to a more recent article, titled
"10 Rules for New Birders" by Jean Todd Freeman from the Jan-Feb 2002 issue.

Her 10 Rules
1. Never make an absolutely positive identification ( unless you are
absolutely positive)
2. Two birds in the bush are better than one -- you can say you saw the
other one
3. Look up, but also look down  -- watch your step
4. Try not to leave your car in the middle of the road with all the doors
open
5. Stay off the interstate
6. Alwasy carry an extra set of keys
7. Take a whistle -- to keep in touch with the rest of the group
8. Don't forget the salt  -- for your hard-boiled egg
9. Learn to pronounce Empidonax -- Em-PID-oh-nax
10. Don't do ducks -- Ms Freeman is counseling here against "doing" birds
that are distant, indistinguishable, and ones "you'd just as soon skip,"
like Empid for example    ;-)

Enjoy,

Paul T. Sullivan

"...all the people who can identify a dusky flycatcher when they see one,
... won't add up to enough votes to elect a mayor.... You like those little
red birds, whatever they're called?  So do I.... You're a birder, and we're
pals."
             Kenn Kaufman -- BirdWatcher's Digest, Nov-Dec 2001

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Paul T. Sullivan" <ptsulliv at spiritone.com>
To: "obol" <obol at lists.oregonstate.edu>
Sent: Friday, March 21, 2008 6:12 AM
Subject: "That's NOT a ______".... (a word of caution)


> OBOL:
>
...
> Bird Watcher's Digest ran an article 10-15 years ago titled something like
> "10 Rules for Beginning Bird Watchers," and the first rule was:  "It's a
> Red-tail!"  Never mind the (choose your adjective) back, it's a Red-tail.
> If I find that article, I'll share the other rules.
>
...
> In any case, enjoy the birds.
>
> Good birding, everyone,
>
> Paul T. Sullivan
>
> "...all the people who can identify a dusky flycatcher when they see one,
> ... won't add up to enough votes to elect a mayor.... You like those
> little
> red birds, whatever they're called?  So do I.... You're a birder, and
> we're
> pals."
>             Kenn Kaufman -- BirdWatcher's Digest, Nov-Dec 2001