My First Organized Bird Walk

A father and his son were fishing. I arrived at the spot early and sat for a while and listened to the leaves rustle like a whisper on a brisk autumn morning. The hour-long drive south was worth it to see Colonel Francis Beatty Park.

Andrea was a terrific guide who arranges field trips for beginning and advanced birders with the Mecklenburg Audubon. In the photo above, she’s the one in the green cap giving binocular tips to a Russian lady who was a real treat to meet. Several of us had binocular trouble. My Bushnells are ancient and as Andrea explained, they are more suited for hawk watching and their power causes distortion. I left them in the car and carried my camera. A few of us shared binocular views and I was astounded to look through a pair of Eagle Optics. The clarity was breathtaking! I’ll be shopping - soon!

Dozens of warblers swarmed overhead and we began a count. During our ninety-minute walk we saw Pine Warblers (lifer), Yellow-Rumped Warblers (lifer), Cardinals, a Kingfisher, a Great Blue Heron, Eastern Phoebes, Eastern Bluebirds, Blue Jays, Mockingbirds, Chipping Sparrows, Song Sparrows, Canada Geese, Mallard Ducks, House Finches, American Crows, Tufted Titmice, Carolina Chickadees, a Carolina Wren, Red-Bellied Woodpeckers, Downy Woodpeckers, and someone saw a Junco! I want to add that on campus Friday, I saw an Eastern Wood Pewee (lifer). (Thanks, Julie for the ID)!

I love this photo, minus the cone!

I was the first one to spot a Great Blue Heron flying low above the water near this spot. It wasn’t an appropriate time to take off running for the Heron so I had an out-of-body experience, picturing myself on the edge of the bank following that bird! It took a lot of inner strength to stay with the group instead of announcing, "Ooops. Gotta go!" I had to cooperate and forget about my bird stalking techniques during the entire walk. That was hard, dammit!

Besides yearning for new binoculars, I’m yearning for a new camera… Sigh. I want to get a clear and crisp photo of a Kingfisher across the lake!

It’s a beautiful place. I could have spent several more hours exploring.

Meeting great ladies with similar interests was my pleasure! A few of them learned to distinguish a female Cardinal from a male. I enjoyed helping them.

We learned to recognize bird song and follow its lead. Now I know how well a Phoebe sings.

During our short time together, Andrea included tips on identifying more than birds.

This won’t be my last field trip. I loved it. I want to see the Catawba River and Lake Norman up close. Water. Need to have water.

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All weekend, I debated including this episode for fear of being embarrassed. Hey, I’m a good sport, so here it is.

The night before my bird walk, I found two pairs of binoculars that were STRAPLESS! It was after 9pm and I panicked because I knew those straps have probably decomposed in a landfill by now. I scrambled for some sort of replacement.

I received an e-mail from Ruth a few minutes later. She wanted to know if I was ready for my field trip and I told her I was frantic and strapless! Being the thoughtful and rational person she is, she asked me to find a camera strap. Why didn’t I think of that? I found an old Sony camera.

My hand-made strap was so candid and incredibly JUNIOR VARSITY! While I worked on it, I thought, “There’s no way in hell I’ll wear binoculars with one leg of Sheer Energy Support black pantyhose around my neck!” I replaced the silky leg with the Sony strap.