VA-Birders:
I believe in love -- have even tried love at first sight. It was wonderful. I
fell in love with birding one August day when I saw my first American
Goldfinch. But that is another story for another day.
To the fair lady who wrote to say that tics think they have died and gone to
heaven when they got on her body. Actually, I am a little jealous. You
should have seen what I wrote to her ;-)
And one fellow wrote to ask: "Just to be sure, surely, you folks in TN are not
hunting songbirds, right?"
Lovers do not make good fighters. So I am a peace maker.
I live just two miles from the Virginia border at Bristol and I bird much of
every year in the Old Dominion. I am lucky to live near the state's finest and
highest mountains -- Mount Rogers and Whitetop. But I am from Tennessee.
We had a similar insignificant discussion when the supporters of Ducks
Unlimited wanted everyone to appreciate that duck hunters have bought duck
stamps for years and that not only helped ducks but provided habitat for the
Ivory-billed Woodpecker. All of the birders were encouraged to go out and buy
a duck stamp this year.
In my role as peace maker, self-appointed lover and thought provoker, I
suggested:
LET'S PUT THE IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKER'S IMAGE ON THE NEXT DUCK STAMP.
Then we can call it a bird stamp. Look at all the birders from Birds Unlimited
that could buy BU stamps for the Ivory-billed Woodpckers and we all will, at
the same time, claim we are financing all the habitat for waterfolw.
Is that the best of both worlds?
Well, I was a lot less popular with the DU people for that then I was with the
BU people for saying it. No, we do not hunt songbirds in Tennessee. But, if
we would have a season on Eastern Screech-owls, sparrows and warblers, we could
legally play tapes and pish all we wanted because that would become intentional
and ethical behavior under the laws. We could buy songbird hunting liscenses
and pay our way to support birds. Birds would benefit from our BU stamps and
we would have more birds than ever before in North America. Maybe we could
call it: Virginia Department of Birds and Inland Fishers. Are just the
"Virginai Bird Commission." I love that. Told you I am a lover!
And, yes. I think all of these discussions on VA-Birds are appropriate. There
is not much else on the list every night because birding has been slow for the
last few days.
A little excitement is good for us.
I can't take up valuable space like this on TN-Birds because of three important
reasons:
(1) I am the founder of the TN-Bird list and its moderator.
(2) we have lots of shorebirds flowing through the Mississippi Flyway right
now and many posts.
(3) Hurricane Dennis just covered us up across the state with Sooty Terns (one
observe had 14 birds), Brown Pelican, Laughing Gull, BRIDLED TERN (7 species of
terns), PARASITIC JAEGER and an AUDUBON'S SHEARWATER, a BROWN NOODY just over
the line in Kentucky. Emily is on her way and our birders are too serious for
my foolishness right now.
So the race is on! No time for fun in the Mid-South. But I live in the
Southern Blue Ridge.
Put the Ivory-billed on the duck stamp......be sure and buy your bird stamp.
Let's go birding......
Wallace Coffey
Bristol, TN
