[wisb] Spark birds
- From: "B.G. Sloan" <bgsloan2@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: wisbirdn <wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:04:38 -0800 (PST)
I've been interested in birds for as long as I can remember. Like several other
people have mentioned on WISBIRDN, I have multiple spark birds:
* My first clear memory of a winged creature was not a bird, but a bat. I was
only 2-3 years old at the time, but I distinctly remember my dad chasing a bat
with a tennis racket through our Victorian house on the bluffs on the Iowa side
of the Mississippi River.
* My first clear recollection of a bird involved a Ruby-throated Hummingbird.
My parents had a trellis with vines that had flowers that attracted hummers. I
remember idly sitting on the back steps watching the hummers when one of them
landed on a branch. I don't remember exactly what I thought, but it was
something along the lines of "Hummingbirds have legs?" For some reason I
thought they were perpetually in flight. I was probably five years old.
* And I also have a memory of being freaked out by the caterwauling of what was
probably a Barred Owl near our lake vacation home in Walworth County. I was 7-8
years old, at most, and my dad tried to explain that it was an owl, but I was
convinced it was a ghost or banshee coming to take me away. Didn't sleep very
that night!
* My first true birding success was as a 9 or 10 year old. I'd read about
pishing in one of my uncle's hunting magazines. Eventually I tried it out. Got
a faint response from a Northern Bobwhite. With more persistent pishing I drew
the bobwhite out of a cornfield and into the barnyard of my grandparents'
central Illinois farm. Didn't realize until much later that it was unusual to
find a bobwhite in that area.
* I also have fond memories of my son Zack's ability to torment Northern
Cardinals and White-throated Sparrows with his whistling. He could do whistles
that didn't really sound like these birds' songs, but that would drive them
crazy. I remember watching with amazement as he drew agitated males from these
species within a foot of him. He was maybe 10 when he did this.
* But my true spark bird has to be Wild Turkey. Like I said, I've been
interested in birds for a long time. But I didn't get seriously into birding
until a flock of turkeys invaded my neighborhood in Urbana, IL in late 2004. I
spent many hours in the field observing their behavior, started to research
birds, joined birding listservs, and keep lists. I eventually wrote the
following op-ed piece about these turkeys in a Thanksgiving issue of the local
paper: http://bit.ly/cDEHIU Since then I've been fortunate enough to have
turkeys within walking distance of home in two other locations: Bloomington,
IN, and Milwaukee. Don't see them very often on the east side of Milwaukee, but
I know that they are there. :-)
Bernie Sloan
Milwaukee
####################
You received this email because you are subscribed to the Wisconsin Birding
Network (Wisbirdn).
To UNSUBSCRIBE or SUBSCRIBE, use the Wisbirdn web interface at:
//www.freelists.org/list/wisbirdn
To set DIGEST or VACATION modes, use the Wisbirdn web interface at:
//www.freelists.org/list/wisbirdn
Visit Wisbirdn ARCHIVES at: //www.freelists.org/archives/wisbirdn
Other related posts:
