Your account of the thrills and challenges of being on a bird count team hits home. I help at spring and winter counts here in the Chicago area. It's not so difficult to roll out of bed for the spring count, but the winter one can be brutal. Recently we've had a couple years in a row when the temp at dawn was hovering around 0F (-17C). The motivator on days like that is: If the birds can endure this, so can I! ;)
I'm not a birder but used to like the challenge of photographing birds. The patience, background reading and learning from others. Your comment of sometimes ‘just watching’ is pertinent.
I hope the weather is better next time. Keep up the good work!
Your account of the thrills and challenges of being on a bird count team hits home. I help at spring and winter counts here in the Chicago area. It's not so difficult to roll out of bed for the spring count, but the winter one can be brutal. Recently we've had a couple years in a row when the temp at dawn was hovering around 0F (-17C). The motivator on days like that is: If the birds can endure this, so can I! ;)
Next time I have to face the cold I’ll remind myself that others (you) are worse off :)
I'm not a birder but used to like the challenge of photographing birds. The patience, background reading and learning from others. Your comment of sometimes ‘just watching’ is pertinent.
I hope the weather is better next time. Keep up the good work!
Really enjoyed reading this. I have been counting birds for years. No such thing as bad weather, it is bad clothing. 😂
I am from the UK so familiar with a very small selection of the birds you encountered but seeing the others would be lovely.