So true, and well-said, Jason; it's also worth noting that introducing the very young to this pursuit, even tagentially, requires patient, persistent faith, but is well worth the effort. It may happily surprise you well into the future with positive results you never imagined. Linda Whyte
On Fri, Mar 15, 2019, 11:13 PM Jason Caddy <[email protected]> wrote: > Hello Birders, > Today I heard a pair of crows exhibiting mobbing behavior in a grove of > pines my front yard in South Minneapolis. I had recently found them mobbing > a Red-tailed Hawk and Cooper's Hawk in the area so I went out and expected > the expected, only to find the unexpected. This turned out to be the best > overall view I had of the Long-eared Owl because I was very close and the > bird was heavily distracted by the aggressive corvids who made contact with > the owl a few times and got a bill jab in return! I was able to call over > some of my birding friends who got to see the bird in the pines. It was > hugging the trunk of a tree and in dense cover so the photos and views > where obscured but the bird surprised us all when it flew directly towards > my kitchen window and pulled up and landed in a large crabapple. It was now > on an exposed perch which allowed photographs and was able to somehow fool > the crows that went back into the original position in the pines. The > Long-eared Owl did its signature "look like a pencil" pose to escape > detection. I was happy to share my sighting with the local birders and with > some of my neighbors but because I live in a town home complex I couldn't > have too many people over at a time (most of my neighbors would not care > but there are a few...…) > This was another example of how the birding hobby is full of surprises and > I am constantly getting re-invigorated. It is also another example in my > experience of how the most rewarding sightings seem to come when you least > expect it (isn't that what they also say about finding love?) Many of my > very best sightings were not when I was concentrating and scanning every > tree in an area but when I stumbled upon the birds. I had a Yellow-throated > Warbler four blocks from my house while I was pushing my kids to the park > in a double stroller. I had to put the break on to quickly check a group of > warblers that were feeding on my neighbor's doorstep, literally! Another > time I found a Black-legged Kittiwake in Duluth when I was about to get > back into my car after scanning the lake. The gull just caught the corner > of my eye as I faced away from the lake- I was this close to entirely > missing that bird. Then last summer I noticed some reddish finches eating > gravel on the side of the road in Kidder County, ND and I told my mom I was > going to turn around because I hadn't yet seen House Finches in the county > yet. The reddish finches turned out to be a flock of Red Crossbills, in the > middle of the Great Plains, in July! > My point is that you aren't going to find a Lynx of a Black Bear in your > yard in South Minneapolis, and you're not going to find a rare species of > Noctuid moth because you just wouldn't know what the hell you are looking > at, but you can find a Long-eared Owl in your yard in a big city because > that's how birds are. They are unpredictable creatures that can fly and are > readily identifiable and that's what makes this hobby so amazing. If you > are new to the hobby and feeling frustrated give it time and if you are an > old hand in the hobby you know that the next great surprise could be just > around the corner..... or on the other side of that tree trunk! > > Jason Caddy > South Minneapolis > 949-370-3157 > > > ---- > Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net > Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html > ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
