Asked this question on Tuesday:
For most of us, bird numbers have greatly dwindled, plumages have
diminished, songs are occasional or fragmented. How do you find
satisfaction in your birding hobby (or passion, or obsession) during the
December to February timeframe?
Here's a summary of the 41 responses (with apologies to those who were
eloquent):
* Christmas Bird Counts! (many times)
* Chase boreal birds and gulls in the north country
* Develop a passion for winter, from backpacking to quiet evenings to
enjoying winter birds
* Wait until January, start new lists
* Work on county listing of winter birds
* Go south young man! Florida, Texas, Arizona, Mexico, Central & South
America
* "I have discovered that it is enough when a single note is played. This
one note or a silent beat, or any moment of silence, comforts me." -Arvo
Part
* Search for owls in the fir stands
* Study behaviors. Move more slowly. "It becomes a study of depth not
breadth...details not numbers..."
* Just appreciate all the more those birds that winter with us. Accept what
is offered, make the best of it.
* Feed & water them.
* Live in Canada!
* Savor the unusual birds.
* Cut back on the birding a bit, rest.
* Lutefisk.
* Enjoy the cold, silent walks. Update your birding records.
* Read birding books, listen to birding CD's
* " We get great pleasure out of training the chickadees and red-breasted
nuthatches to eat sunflower seeds out of our hands."
* "Winter makes each individual bird that much more precious."
Thanks to all for your input.
Al Schirmacher
Princeton, MN
Mille Lacs & Sherburne Counties
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