No sightings (writer currently in exile in southern California)

A personal perspective:

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

When I was a boy back in the Bronze Age (actually the sixties,) I never
heard the term "birder." In the spring of 1961 during a "no-friends-around"
afternoon after school, I was poking around the small woodlot behind the
house where I grew up. (Some might argue that I never really grew up, but I
digress.) A hooded warbler flitted down to within 10 feet of me. I remember
the exact spot and moment. I had shown an interest in birds for the
previous year or two, and my mother nurtured this by placing a feeder
outside the dining room window. I liked to draw cardinals. But this hooded
warbler, with its brilliant yellow plumage and striking black hood, was
captivating. I was hooked, so I borrowed bird books from the library. For
Christmas the following year my parents bought me Peterson's "How To Know
The Birds" along with my own pair of binoculars. A Peterson's Field Guide
for my February birthday followed. I became a "bird watcher."

I have maintained keen interest in birds ever since, but during my teenage
years, twenties and thirties other interests intervened. I became a
geologist, a seaman, an historian, and a "treasure hunter." During that
time I always watched the birds whenever possible. I spent 19 months at sea
off the Carolina coast (well off the coast - 160 to 200 miles) during five
summers from 1987 to 1991. In retrospect I probably should have been
listing, but I didn't. I was busy with other matters. I saw some amazing
things, but I did not list the birds.

When I turned 40, in 1994, I decided it was about time for me to start an
actual life list, since that seemed to have become all the rage among bird
watchers, who now called themselves birders. Whatever. The listing for me
was more a means of monitoring my hobby, as if I was measuring myself and
my experiences, as well as the presence of different species. I am fairly
passive, although reasonably skilled. I almost never chase, although there
have been a few exceptions, some of them exceedingly frustrating. I seldom
make it up to the Lake. I always carry binoculars or have them close at
hand. My lists are modest for someone of my aptitude and experience: North
America - 406, Ohio - 239, Yard (57 acre farm) - 133. "Serious birders"
might scoff, and sometimes they have. One will encounter the kind and the
unkind in every field of endeavor.

In 2006, after I read The Big Year, I decided to measure my average annual
experience with the birds, based on "minimal" effort. I did what I call a
"Moderate Year." I didn't chase... well, maybe once or twice. I didn't make
it up to the Lake at all that year. I did take advantage of business
travel, which took me to several US locations, particularly southern
California. This plumped up the Moderate Year somewhat. According to my
database I ended up with 213 species. This is a interesting statistic. I
mention it to non-birders (or non-birdwatchers) to illustrate just how many
bird species are really around, if one bothers to look. It usually amazes
them.

When I found myself approaching 400 two years ago I got a little more
intense. I had a couple business trips to Anchorage, and I booked myself on
a pelagic out of San Diego, coincident with some business travel to Orange
Co. just north of there. Those opportunities got me close. I got my 400th
(Wilson's phalaropes) on August 23, 2009 at the San Joaquin Wildlife Area
in Orange Co., CA, and I promptly lost interest in twitching again. Note
that I have added a whopping six species since then, most of them on a
visit to my step-daughter in gulf coastal south Florida last March.

I love to watch the birds. They are an important aspect of my awareness of
the natural world. For a lifer to count for me, I like to feel that I have
experienced the bird in a way that I would recognize it again. It's my own
rule. I have become more interested in learning bird songs, calls and
notes. I think it's wonderful that the birds will tell you not only where
they are, but what they are. I love the community of birders, and I greatly
admire those who pursue the sport of birding with more focus than I do. I
suppose that I hope to reach 600 before I depart this world. I may have to
get cracking.

Birding or birdwatching is what you make it. Call me what you like.

Bob Evans
Geologist, etc.
Hopewell Township, Muskingum County, OH & Lake Forest, CA (where there is
neither a lake nor a forest)

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