Jack wrote:
"I don't know about you, but my birth month is the toughest of the year for
me to find birding joy."
I enjoyed reading the backyard observations of Linda Leavens regarding your
inquiry.
I find much more birding "joy" in finding interesting birds in my patch or
witnessing interesting behaviors than in chasing and ticking rarities. Yes
I "chase' sometimes but it doesn't often bring me "joy" in the process.
Sometimes just moving extra slow and trying to get photos is fun too,
without counting everything and doing the ebird citizen science thing
(which I really enjoy too).
So my suggestion is to try some patch birding if you haven't done so yet.
There's a patch somewhere, or a cluster of small patches near your home
just waiting to be discovered. And if you "ebird" them then you are adding
data to an area that isn't already being covered.
Okay I'm done "patch proselytizing", bird on.
Dwight Porter
Portland, Oregon
http://www.pbase.com/dwight_porter/local_patch_birds
