Notebook in hand, I participate in several field trips with BHAS, and, in addition to noting the birds I see, I jot down the many things I hear from other participants. I chuckle to myself because I know that taken out of context, some comments sound rather absurd, but birders continue the discussion without so much as a wink. Such is life among many of us who are tuned in to bird life around us. Enjoy the snippets of conversation I have recorded this spring and early summer.
At the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge:
“There are SO many rabbits!”
“Nature’s hamburgers…”
The group sees a Swainson’s Thrush:
Ben, in a sing-song voice: “If you seize me and you squeeze me I may squirt.”
Blank stares in the group.
Ben: “That’s what it says!”
Random conversation in the field:
Paul: “Looks like someone had a case of owlitis…”
Sheila: “Or peregrineitis.”
Paul: “Or coyoteitis.”
Another trip to Nisqually:
Birder #1: “The Swainson’s Thrush sounds like a flute underwater.”
Birder #2: “I’ve never heard a flute underwater. . . “
Discussing whether we saw a purple finch or house finch:
Cathy: “Well, I should just show Shep the tree it was in, and he’ll probably know.”
Penny: “Yes, and he’ll know its life history, its gestational period, and its political affiliation!”
Birders trying to see a Peregrine Falcon in a nest across the freeway on the cell tower, but seeing no sign of life:
Shelly: “I can imagine it moving around in that nest.“
Kevin: “Sometimes you have to imagine it to see it.”
On a trip to Glacial Heritage Site:
Ben, on spotting a White-Crowned Sparrow: “Here comes the nasty, naughty kitty…”
Norman: “A Western Tanager is like a robin singing through a wine glass….a little reverberee…”
John: “Phil, what are you looking at?”
Phil: “Butterbutts” (Audubon Warblers)
Springtime at Woodard Bay Natural Preserve:
Birder #1: “A nuthatch sounds like a Russian…Nyet, nyet.”
Birder #2: “A Russian with an attitude…..”
Birder #3: “Or a truck backing up and beeping. “
Surf Scoters: “They are so awkward. They even dive badly…And it’s got that beak that looks like it’s from the high society union, but not very graceful.”
Springtime observation: “I think we might have some mom and pop stuff going on here.”
