The protesters in Oregon don’t know what they are getting into. This brief guide should warn anyone foolish enough to occupy a birding sanctuary that they are facing an unbeatable horde of persistently polite people.
Yes, it is true, but few have lived to tell of the tale of meeting a birder for the second time, let alone the first. When flushed from the undergrowth, like startled mountain quail, some are cursed with a friendly, “Hello,” or if they show too much interest, they may be bogged down for a tale of 30 to 50 different species of birds they could see that day and where to look for them, never to be seen again.
Birders gather in libraries and other public places to share their counts and give lengthy presentations of their photos, oddly enough with no people anywhere to be seen in them. A coincidence?
These gatherings would be long enough as it is, but if there is a disagreement about an identification, beware, this is not an issue to be taken lightly, and such disagreements may go on until several birding guides are brandished, and a consensus is merely a possibility, unless there is a clearly definitive call that separates one possibility from the other. Birders have been known to reduce their official count, just to avoid such a confrontation.
The camouflage of the hunter is no match for the green and beige tree like outfits and calculated stillness of an excited birder, waiting for a bird to show again. If unsuccessful, this may be repeated for days, in the same spot with an inexhaustible enthusiasm.
Some have been so bold as to enquire of a backyard bird that has been occasionally seen. With the precision of a surgeon, the birder will tease out the defining marks and likely habitat, and then determine quickly whether sufficient information is given for a positive identification.
As is usually the case, the birder will pronounce that the find is a common bird, but great to see anyways. If so, be thankful. If it were anything remarkable, the birder would go to great lengths to see, hear, and photograph the find, posting coordinates and viewing history to the darkest recesses of the internet, for others to follow.
Birders not only recognize most birds by even a slight call, but they recognize their own with field marks that are nearly impossible to replicate without years of practice. Once a birder determines that someone is not in the ‘in’ crowd, they will realize that there is no juicy information to be had, and will limit their enquiries to the local roads, trails and access issues. If you get away without at least a 30 minute delay, consider yourself lucky.
