Thursday, November 21, 2013

Blogging Helps Give Birding A Purpose


The routine of find the birds-identify the birds-and check the birds off on a list can become a little bit monotonous for me. One of the benefits of having a birding blog is that it forces me to come up with some sort of theme when I'm out birding. I want to be able to post about something other than just the birds I've seen. If I'm lucky enough to capture a good bird photo then I don't need to say much but since 99% of my photos end up in the trash bin I have to fill a blog post with something.

On this particular morning my idea was to look for birds within walking distance of where I live. The top photo was taken at Portland Riverfront Park. It used to be pretty good birding here but it is quite a bit more developed than it used to be.
There's a large, private field along the trail. It has a big Sycamore tree in the center. It looked like a nice day to be a sheep.
The Mute Swans get along well with the Canada geese on this stretch of the river. It looks like one of the swans has a little river spinach on its tooth.
In a nearby field I spotted pheasant under grass. It's funny to watch these birds run across the field. I'd be running too if hunters had their shotguns pointed at me.

If it weren't for blogging I wouldn't bother taking bird photos and my field trips would probably be less imaginative. I guess you could say that blogging helps give me a sense of purpose when I go birding. 

6 comments:

Jen Sanford said...

Love the term river spinach! I know what you mean about blogging and birding... Good post.

LauraHinNJ said...

Same here, Larry!

Nan said...

That's excellent! I think it is true of many bloggers - those who are book bloggers, or food bloggers, or bloggers who write about many things. It is a great way to keep a record, and to make the writer really pay attention. I love those sheep in your picture.

troutbirder said...

It's true for me as well though there are lots of other reasons as well. I'm a little astonished at the huge discrepancy in size between the Canadas and the swans. Here our giant Canada geese don't look nearly that small. Are my eyes deceiving me???

Larry said...

troutbirder-It caught my attention too which is why I wanted to gt the 2 species in the same frame. I know that the swans like to hang out near the closed down nuclear power plant so who knows?

Unknown said...

Blogging gives my photoing a purpose.. As ysual you are persipicacius :-) Love the phesant under grass..Hiw can anyone want to shoot them..I don't understand most of our species!