Date June 8, 2002
Location Chief Logan Scout Reservation, Ray, OH
The occasion was once again a Scouting activity (this will become a common theme for much of life list). I was the 11-year-old patrol scout leader, and we were at Chief Logan on June 7-8 for a campout with some other scouts. It just so happened that adult leader training was going on at the same time. I was invited to join. I accepted.
I then realized that this was going to take me away from the free time I was anticipating. The 11-year-old's would be off doing planned activities, and I wouldn't be needed. I was all prepared for my first bird watching event.
I was conflicted. I didn't want to back out of the training because we had already formed patrols, etc.
Eventually, the birds won out. The next morning I just flat out told them I was going to go bird watching instead. I'd do training some other time. (As an aside, I made up for it later. I became scoutmaster and went through the full training regimen and organized our troop better than it had been before.)
There, got that off my chest.
So that morning I take my trusty 8x20 binoculars (can't believe I was ever able to see anything with those) and my Audubon field guide and strike out into the woods. As I would learn in the coming years, Chief Logan was really an excellent spot to go birding. At this point, I was still a novice and didn't nab too many species. However, it was the first real opportunity to go out in the field and 1) see a bird, then 2) dig around a field guide to try to identify it. It was my first "bird watching trip."
The first bird (probably) that I identified that day was a "Rufous-sided" Towhee. Or at least, that's what I thought it was called, because that's what the guidebook said (which was outdated). I was just standing in the woods when he appeared, foraging near the ground. He was frequently fanning his tail, showing off the white parts. He eventually alighted on a branch about 10 feet up and sang once, then flew off. I was so thrilled -- then discouraged when I couldn't find him in my field guide. I eventually did later in the day.
I later determined that the Audubon guide was not for me. I started learning about bird families and taxonomic order, and using that scheme is much easier than using color, which is what the Audubon guide did. The problem with using color is that it's not always obvious what the "primary" color of a bird is.
But I digress.
So, the reason I said "probably" above is that I probably did identify some other common birds like cardinals, but I did not officially record them in my life list. For the common birds, up until about no. 21 (which happens to be Northern Cardinal), I didn't record them in my life list until I had what I considered a "good" sighting. This actually kind of made sense, I believe, because once I started the life list, it was obvious that I had already seen many commoners in my lifetime like house sparrows and cardinals. How do I record that? I have no date or location, no story. So I recorded the sighting when I was satisfied that it would be a distinct and memorable event.
I was so proud of the towhee identification that I even told a co-worker about it the following week. He didn't seem terribly impressed.
Cornell: Eastern Towhee
The occasion was once again a Scouting activity (this will become a common theme for much of life list). I was the 11-year-old patrol scout leader, and we were at Chief Logan on June 7-8 for a campout with some other scouts. It just so happened that adult leader training was going on at the same time. I was invited to join. I accepted.
I then realized that this was going to take me away from the free time I was anticipating. The 11-year-old's would be off doing planned activities, and I wouldn't be needed. I was all prepared for my first bird watching event.
I was conflicted. I didn't want to back out of the training because we had already formed patrols, etc.
Eventually, the birds won out. The next morning I just flat out told them I was going to go bird watching instead. I'd do training some other time. (As an aside, I made up for it later. I became scoutmaster and went through the full training regimen and organized our troop better than it had been before.)
There, got that off my chest.
So that morning I take my trusty 8x20 binoculars (can't believe I was ever able to see anything with those) and my Audubon field guide and strike out into the woods. As I would learn in the coming years, Chief Logan was really an excellent spot to go birding. At this point, I was still a novice and didn't nab too many species. However, it was the first real opportunity to go out in the field and 1) see a bird, then 2) dig around a field guide to try to identify it. It was my first "bird watching trip."
The first bird (probably) that I identified that day was a "Rufous-sided" Towhee. Or at least, that's what I thought it was called, because that's what the guidebook said (which was outdated). I was just standing in the woods when he appeared, foraging near the ground. He was frequently fanning his tail, showing off the white parts. He eventually alighted on a branch about 10 feet up and sang once, then flew off. I was so thrilled -- then discouraged when I couldn't find him in my field guide. I eventually did later in the day.
I later determined that the Audubon guide was not for me. I started learning about bird families and taxonomic order, and using that scheme is much easier than using color, which is what the Audubon guide did. The problem with using color is that it's not always obvious what the "primary" color of a bird is.
But I digress.
So, the reason I said "probably" above is that I probably did identify some other common birds like cardinals, but I did not officially record them in my life list. For the common birds, up until about no. 21 (which happens to be Northern Cardinal), I didn't record them in my life list until I had what I considered a "good" sighting. This actually kind of made sense, I believe, because once I started the life list, it was obvious that I had already seen many commoners in my lifetime like house sparrows and cardinals. How do I record that? I have no date or location, no story. So I recorded the sighting when I was satisfied that it would be a distinct and memorable event.
I was so proud of the towhee identification that I even told a co-worker about it the following week. He didn't seem terribly impressed.
Cornell: Eastern Towhee
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