Jan 2, 2008

Lifebird #37 - I'll Need a Real Field Guide

In 2004 I still did not consider myself a birder. Joann and I watched and identified birds at our feeders, and we enthusiastically checked off each new species in our copy of Birds of Minnesota and Wisconsin. But the only birds on my list other than hard-to-miss locals occurring prior to this Chestnut-backed Chickadee are the three Hawaiian birds that somewhat accidentally and retrospectively head it (see A House Sparrow in Paradise for an explanation). In fact, we did not own a decent pair of binoculars at this point, and shared a cheap pair of miniature Bushnell 10x25 binos to look at birds on our feeders.

But even then a visit to California was an opportunity to see new birds, though I didn’t always take the time to record any details. On this occasion I had an extra pair of Dad’s binoculars with me during an overnight trip to the coast. Dad was a fairly new lister at this time and had his copy of Sibley Guide to Birds with him. He was eager to add any new birds he might see on the west side of the coastal mountains. As we mulled around a picnic table at the top of the bluffs that overlook Agate Beach, Dad spotted a chickadee in some nearby bushes and called Joann and me over for a look. This wasn’t the Black-capped Chickadee familiar to us from Minnesota (a rarity in California). What we were very excited to see was a small chocolaty chickadee that we were able to confirm, using Dad’s copy of Sibley’s, as a Chestnut-backed Chickadee. It’s found almost exclusively along the West Coast from San Francisco Bay north through the Alaskan panhandle.

This bird was the first of many species Joann and I owe to my Dad’s prowess as a birder, and it led directly to the purchase of a my first real field guide, the Sibley Guide to Birds.

Sharp-eyed readers may have noticed that the photo at the top of this page is not of a Chestnut-backed Chickadee. Instead, it is a photo taken one day following the sighting (by an unknown person, but with my camera) of a large contingent of Bachmans and Bachman-related beachgoers at Patrick’s Point State Park, just a long downhill trek from where the bird was seen. Some may be suspicious of the second image as well. I cropped it from birdsource.org. For a good time, you are encouraged to click on both photos.