No, these are not the newest options of aero-themed Christmas gifts. These are the names of some of the different birds I encountered on yesterday’s day-tour of the Hawkesbury Wetlands.
While you were busy listening to The Kaiser Chiefs' new single, I was bouncing around some dirt roads alongside a gaggle of geriatrics, stopping at every other lagoon, tree path, or picturesque pastoral landscape that overlooked the slow-moving Hawkesbury River. And, you know, see what little winged creatures were flitting about.
As you may have gathered from some previous posts, I have an affinity for ornithology, stemming from a one-credit course I took senior year in high school Sole requirements: show up…or at least, since we were seniors, be somewhere on campus, but preferably not napping in the teacher’s lounge (KIDDING. The class was actually quite informative, and, as you can see, has stuck with me.) Ever since, much of my travels have involved the perfunctory binoculars, camera, and heavily-scribbled birding book (and at least one person referring to me as “that weird bird guy.”)
The day began early enough — again, anytime before the “p.m.” pops up on the laptop screen is too early — and by 8 a.m., a bus and train had landed me at the Killara Rail Station.
As soon as my fellow birders began to congregate, I felt like I was the only one who hadn’t voted for Dwight Eisenhower. It seemed that everyone who joined me at the pick-up point would be experiencing their Golden Years with me. “Depends” would have had a field day with this group. Needless to say, I felt a bit displaced. I’m sure I would have loved Rita Hayworth as a 1950s teenager, but I really don’t think that was something I was going to get across with these birders.Fortunately, the conversation didn’t consist solely of applesauce and the Lone Ranger. One of the women, admittedly pushing 80, caught me by surprise when she fluently fixed “internet” into the conversation.
But age, antithetical to the post above this one, does not necessarily mean senility. After, oh, about two seconds of birding, noticed that our guide, Yorkshire Keith, was the most knowledgeable antipodean ornithologist I’d ever seen. I don’t plan on being a diminutive, leather-skinned guide when I grow up, but, dang, do I have respect for anyone who can identify a speeding black bullet with the sun ceaselessly beating down through your pupils. Not only did he amaze me time and again, but it gave me the opportunity to feel totally unaccomplished (or accomplished, as it were) as I ticked the birds off my list.
The birds, as you can imagine, didn’t disappoint. From the hovering Nankeen Kestrels to the Black Swans, tailed by some kids, to the wandering Brown Quail — which I somehow spotted amidst the low brush — the life list I keep kept on growing. The highlight of the birding afternoon came when a White-bellied Sea-Eagle, tailed by a pair of Whistling Kites, barrel-rolled out of the way, dropping both altitude and his pursuers in fantastic fashion.
All told, I saw or heard some 100 species throughout the day, including around 20 new ones and my very first crake (which is kind of like a snipe, which is kind of like a godwit, which is kind of like a plover, which is kind of like a sandpiper…). It may not have been worth the $100 I shelled out*, lugging around bruised bananas and damp PB&J’s, or feeling like everyone on the bus was going to start complaining about those new-fangled pagers they just came out with, but, yeah, it was fun.
Apparently, you have to be a member of AARP to bird. Guess I missed the memo.
I now know what I want for Christmas.
Overlooking the Tidbinbilla plains, where birds absolutely love to not pose for me and my non-zoom lens.
For more tantalizingly blurry bird photos, go here.
*I made up for the loss of monies later in the evening when, instead of buying beverages at the Ivy Nightclub, Noah from Arizona and I stole people’s drinks when they weren’t looking. Not only did my budget stay fit, but I had the most fun possible this side of a phonebook and a fire extinguisher (man, the things you do in college). Unethical? Yes. Inexpensive? Yes. Two free bottles of champagne? Yes.
Video of the day!
Thanks to late-night Australian TV, I, sadly, had to watch this commercial:
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