Outside – For the birds

Outside – For the birds

by Ed Evans
a special feature of Westside News Inc.

Some people call it "bird watching" and the people holding the binoculars are sometimes called "bird watchers." But just what are they doing? Are they following any set rules? Are they part of a club? Is it all just for fun? How did they get to be bird watchers? Is it a pass time, a hobby or a sport?

If you talk to a few bird watchers you will soon learn that some are so serious about the hobby they prefer to be known as "birders." And they don't just watch birds. They actually keep a list of the different kinds of birds they have spotted and most note oddities and trends associated with bird populations. Some "birders" have graduated to identifying birds by their call or song or silhouette. Some real birders are even into spending money to travel around looking for new birding experiences.

Birders have told me that Hamlin Beach State Park, because it has a variety of wet and dry habitats, is the "most birded" spot in Region Two, the Rochester area. (The state is divided into ten regions.) One birder told me that "if some weird 'bird thing' was happening in this area it would probably be spotted in Hamlin first." He gave a recent event as an example. The Cave Swallow is so rare only one might be seen in all of New York state in a year. One year, however, over 800 were counted coming from the east through the state park, in a week. He suggests the variations in the jet stream might have displaced them.

The birders I talked to also rank the Braddock Bay area a very close second in ideal birding locations. It has some features and activities Hamlin doesn't have and the Kaiser-Manitou Beach Banding Station is one of them. There, birds are caught in very fine nets stretched across flyways, to provide data for a kind of bird census. The first year I saw the nets working, birds were being banded at the Kaiser-Manitou Beach Banding Station and in Hamlin at the same time. Over 8,400 birds of 96 different species were caught, counted, banded, and released unharmed from the two locations in 77 days.

Birders who have been at it for a while can tell you when house cats started the dramatic decline in ground nesting bird populations in this area, when and where highways became a major problem for birds, and probably have a few insights of their own about global warming. And you can get in on the fun. Instead of the standard scavenger hunt at the next family reunion in an area park such as Hamlin Beach or Braddock Bay, add some birds to the list. My birder friends guarantee that a Red Breasted Nut Hatch, Blue Jay, Pileated Woodpecker, Cardinal, Red Bellied Woodpecker, Chickadee, and Herring Gull will always be there just waiting to be seen. All you have to do is get some pictures from a bird book to hand out and remind the participants that the gulls often seen begging from the picnickers are not Herring Gulls. It will be a picnic game people of all ages can get into. And who knows, there may be some new "birders" enjoying the sport after that picnic.

Note: Look for Ed Evans 'Outside' column each month in Suburban News and The Herald. Ask Evans a question about the local environment or ecology by emailing westside@netacc.net.