Staidly as she goes
I finally got onto a rufous-throated honeyeater @ the bush garden, after several attempts over the past couple of months. I also saw tawny grassbird, clamorous reed warbler, red-backed wren, crimson finch, leaden flycatcher, coucal, juvenile brush cuckoo, sea eagle, etc… etc… blah… blah… blah…
I went with BOCA, who are almost all retired ladies. Now, I don’t have a problem with retired ladies, but they gossip the entire time! In addition, they can’t stand still, unless they’re standing in the middle of the cycle path chattering away, nearly getting mown down by frustrated commuters! Meanwhile, their husbands roll their eyes and attempt full-on tactical jungle-moves in their white t-shirts - it’s like, “Dude, get some stealth!”. Ok, that’s unfair - I guess it’s really about getting together and maybe checking out some birds. Most of them, particularly the very experienced birders, are actually really cool, knowledgeable and helpful.
However, what I would like to know is why some semi-experienced birders love to doubt every call? Just to show how ‘great’ they are? For example, one lady laughed at me today. There was a honeyeater with weird plumage making only an alarm call, which I had an inkling might be a rufous-throated. I said, “hmmm…”, or words to that effect. While she didn’t make a call on the bird herself, when we worked it out, she said, “ahahah, just a brown honeyeater”, then laughed like it was the funniest thing she’d ever heard. WTF?
I personally couldn’t really give a shit if she was making fun of me, it was ‘funny’ - what frustrates me is that this is the best possible way to discourage new birders and the worst possible way to encourage them to return. If you’re teaching (in any field) shouldn’t you be aiming to make people feel (a) better about what they do know and (b) inspired by what they don’t?
I just laughed and said, “Well, you never know, do you?”. I should’ve said something like, “Oh, I thought it might have been a yellow-throated, or a yellow-tufted or a black-headed - I mean, it’s easy to get confused when you’ve seen 65 new species in the past six weeks!”, then ripped off my shirt to reveal my domiantors singlet, pushed her into the river, watched her binoculars sink to the benthos using my ‘aqua-jizz’ skills, and done a savage head point while screaming, “COME ON!”.
What is the staidly world of birding coming to?
September 13th, 2006 at 4:25 pm
That is an awesome description of a conflict - made me laugh.
September 13th, 2006 at 5:11 pm
Cool. Thanks. How’s London treating you? When are we going to get a report?
September 14th, 2006 at 1:11 am
London is great - takes a while to get used to the place but we have got the hang of it now. Sorry I have been quiet on the report front, I have been attempting to get through some exams, which are proving to be a bit of a time consumer!
I am heading home for a month in December/Jan - are you going to be in Sydney?
September 14th, 2006 at 9:20 am
Not sure, depends on jobs etc…
September 14th, 2006 at 9:50 am
Tomo at the head of a conflict?! Never!
I thought the act of birding called for a ’softly, softly’ approach, but as we have seen, you’ve just launched yourself in there, emblazened in double-head-point-red, guns blazing, shootin’ down any old lady that stands in your way.
Perhaps you should make a stealth version of the singlet? A limited edition birding version.
September 14th, 2006 at 10:03 am
Dominators - Special Forces?
September 14th, 2006 at 10:11 am
How about Dominators Ornithological Regional Corps or DORCS for short
September 14th, 2006 at 11:52 am
You should have made the famous crow call at her. Have you spotted a crow yet? There are some in the wilds of Balmain.
September 14th, 2006 at 12:36 pm
For a moment there I read:
“You should have made the famous COW call at her.”
The next sentence quickly corrected me. Still, maybe you should have mooooo-ed at her!
September 14th, 2006 at 1:45 pm
I think young boys with big binoculars are so cute!
September 14th, 2006 at 5:34 pm
What are you so upset about? Here I was, minding my own business, when a bunch of right wallies wanders up, all binoculars and fancy cameras. I was trying to chat up this rather attractive little blue-faced honeyeater, see if she wanted to go and suck a bit of nectar together, I thought she might invite me back to her nest, when half of bloody Townsville descends on us. Then they all start brawling, some dude in a red singlet does a Zidane on an old lady who was carrying on like a bloody magpie, she is about to go for an unwanted swim and little blue-face pisses off. And I’m not happy.
September 14th, 2006 at 6:35 pm
I’m not happy either - I just got kicked out of the uni club for pissing in the garden. WTF? The world is going to the dogs - the dogs I tell you.
To make matters worse, I’m on a first name basis with the bouncers there - who’ve seen far worse. Except for this new guy who wanted to flex his johnson at me.
He said, “The toilets are just over there - the same distance you walked in the opposite direction”. Thing is, they were locked, and Clwedd had dared me $5 to wee in the garbage bin - which I declined, in a most gentlemanly manner.
Anyway, now Rin and I are going to ride our bikes home. Hopefully I won’t injure myself pulling some crazy fixie-stunt.
:)
September 15th, 2006 at 11:09 am
I like young boys that do crazy fixie-stunts too!
September 16th, 2006 at 5:36 pm
could this all be write-up stress????
September 23rd, 2006 at 9:42 pm
Man, birding over there sure seems different than how we do it in the states. Is it because we don’t wear singlets?
Good luck with your listing quest!
Mike
10,000 Birds
September 23rd, 2006 at 11:16 pm
Hi Mike,
Thanks for commenting - I’m honoured. I’ve really been enjoying your site, along with others in the States - tracking the Hawks, the Western Reef Heron and so on.
An American Golden Plover has turned up recently in Sydney, so the twitchers are cashing-in their frequent flier miles.
I did manage to see a bunch of birds in August, but am still WAY behind the leaders over here. However, while I’ve seen relatively few birds (only ~250 out of the 750+), some of them are pretty rare… like, Great-Billed Heron etc…
So, it’s fun to grip-off the Sydney birders every now and then about our Tropical species… and to do the same to the QLD birders on returning with Rock Warblers (the only NSW endemic) on your list etc…
’cause we’re young we tend to have a bit of the up-and-comer style, but it’s not that we are disresepectful, we just like having fun - we don’t like to take ourselves too seriously, you know?
For example, here’s Alex striking a silly pose to notify me of a Glossy Black Ibis, while Jo (who’s seen over 700 Oz species) tracks a Whiskered Tern above the wetland off to the left of the photo. In fact, the reason she’s seen so many birds may be because she actually watches, while we’re too busy being jackasses
:)
We think birding should be about having fun - and taking half-decent photos.
Maybe it’s time for a twitch-a-thon… Old-School vs. New-School. Actually, on second thoughts there’s probably no point, the Old-School would just teach us whipper-snappers a lesson
Also, there’s no reason why you couldn’t get yourself a Dominators singlet and get involved in the Third International Month of Domination next year… Consider the gauntlet thrown