February is even tougher on this side of the mountains, in my opinion. We
don’t have swallows or hummingbirds to look forward to this month. Flowers are
something we see in stores, not in the ground. Snow is likely all month and
next, with lingering snow showers possible through Memorial Day. Since the
turn of the century with climate change we have seen fewer cold but clear days
and a lot more rainy, gloomy 35-45° days (sound familiar?).
The way I survive is to book a trip to somewhere delightfully sunny, hot and
birdy. In recent years I have gone to Florida, Arizona, Texas and Mexico.
Mexico is a great place to go on the cheap and the number of birds you can see
and photograph is amazing. Usually the glow from that trip lasts at least
until the April (snow) Showers set in.
Tom Crabtree, Bend
From: obol-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:obol-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of ;
Jack Williamson
Sent: Monday, February 01, 2016 11:52 AM
To: Dwight P
Cc: obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; leavens4209@xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [obol] Re: Re Surviving February
Heck - you've sold me!
Thanks for the note. Very best - Jack
Jack Williamson
West Linn, Oregon
On Mon, Feb 1, 2016 at 11:43 AM, Dwight P <gpic4dp@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
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
