The Backyard & Beyond  - November 2004

Arden lead a Vancouver Audubon Field Trip to the Tillamook area in September. There were 10 participants and Angela Allen, columnist for The Columbian newspaper, rode with Arden & I in our car. Angela had published an article for the newspaper on birding in early 2003 after going on a short field trip with Jan & Jerry Beale, Arden & I to the Vancouver Lake Lowlands. She was busy asking questions for her article and viewing the birds we found. It was a beautiful day and photographer got photos for the article. Angela was genuinely interested in birding but lacked time with her busy schedule to pursue it. I ran into her this summer and asked her if she was still interested in going on a field trip and she was excited to join us. The day came and we all headed for the Oregon coast early in the morning and watched a few birds as we drove. Angela had her notepaper and pen in hand and was keeping notes of all she saw.

As we were traveling and talking, Arden spotted a Bald Eagle fly above the car and nonchalantly mentioned the eagle. Angela was squirming in the back seat and said, "I guess you two are so use to seeing them, that it is just another eagle to you". At that point I had to go back in time and remember how excited we use to be at seeing a Bald Eagle. These were times when we were first birding and Bald Eagles were hard to find due to their decline from the effects of DDT (a pesticide that hit the food chain and weakened the egg shells of many birds like Bald Eagles and Peregrine Falcons). Since then, not only, have Bald Eagles made a come back and can be seen quite easily, especially in our area, but over the years we have seen hundreds of them in many states. Bald Eagles are a majestic bird, our National Symbol, and I do get a thrill at seeing them but they have become a bit more common.

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If you are out birding and run into people who enjoy birds but aren't "birders" per say, the birds that do excite them are the big ones… the Bald Eagles, the Great Horned Owls, the Great Blue Herons, the Sandhill Crane, the Hawks, etc. Luckily, we later saw another Bald Eagle sitting in a tree and Angela got to view it through the scope.

    As we drove the road at Bay Ocean Spit, we heard a calling bird that turned out to be a Wrentit. It is a small, dark colored, secretive little bird that is hard to find due to the habitat it lives in and its nature of staying out of sight. This little bird even sang while hiding in the branches but we soon found it due to it's bouncing ball call. We were all excited and Angela got a good look at this new bird for her list.
    We continued on, stopping at some of our favorite spots along the coast north of Tillamook. We spotted Belted Kingfishers stalking the waters edges for small fish for it's meal. I love seeing Belted Kingfishers with there bushy top notches and their beautiful steal blue and white plumage. The females of course have the orange bands on their chest adding another flash of color as they fly by. Angela liked the Kingfishers.

   Towards the end of the day we discussed the birds we had seen and Arden & I were of course thrilled with the sighting of the Wrentit. Great views of a difficult bird to see. But Angela liked the Bald Eagle and the Kingfisher best. She wasn't especially impressed with "good" birds as some would describe the Wrentit. She was impressed with the eagle and the kingfisher. Those are the two species that reached out and touched her that day. And that is what birding is all about. It doesn't matter why and or what bird it is that sets off a spark in our hearts. It could be a goldfinch, a sandpiper, a woodpecker or even a starling but not matter which ones excite you and get you motivated to seek out more birds and enjoy the avian world, it doesn't matter. A passion for birds can change the way you think about life and the world, and it urges you to vote in certain ways to protect the birds, nature and the world we all live in.

                                Happy Birding,   Sherry Hagen