Sometimes it is good to change what you do.  Every now and then, I like to take a break from my books, tuck a Sibley’s guide and my Pentax binocs into a bag, head for a local wildlife area, and observe some winged action.  Occasionally, I like to write about it.  So today, I am writing about birding. 

On May 3rd and 4th, I chaperoned a field trip of 11th and 12th graders to the Genesee Country Nature Center in Mumford, NY.  This is the second year that I have done the trip, and have found it to be an excellent opportunity to get out and see some birds during spring migration.  Linda Bender, the Center’s director, and her staff, do an excellent job of guiding (and tolerating) the students, who got to see and study a host of nature’s creatures and habitats.  I enjoy walking through the woods with Linda as her knowledge of the Center’s wildlife and where it can be found greatly increases my chances every year of seeing a Cerulean Warbler.  As many of you know, the Cerulean becomes a little harder to find each year.  I have seen this bird only once, in Potter County, PA, and as Linda can identify Dendroica cerulea by sound as well as sight, my chances get even better.  Last year, we were within ear shot of the diminutive migrant, but failed to see the flash of blue.  This year, I set off with high hopes.

I should note, that if you find yourself approaching middle-age and are required to spend a prolonged period with twenty or so urban and suburban teenagers in an outdoor setting, it may be a good idea to do a bit of soul searching before announcing that you are wearing binoculars because you are looking for a Cerulean Warbler.  While there may be one or two in the group that are genuinely interested in your quest, and a few more that are willing to feign interest as a token of goodwill, the majority will assault you with laughter and jeers, and words like “poindexter” and “bird-nerd”.  Without a quick wit and a thick skin, it could get ugly fast.

Fortunately, natural beauty can often turn even the deepest apathy or severe disinterest into a look of wonder or a gasp of awe.  While my students did not leave the two days behind headed for a life of monastic naturalism, all were at one point or another touched by her omnipresent hand.  For some it was the sight of nestled Eastern Bluebird hatchlings as mom watched from a bat house overhead.

 

And I ALMOST got a great shot!

Some of the students were emotionally torn when, upon finding a European Starling nest laden with eggs in a box built to attract Great Crested Flycatchers, the Center’s staff pulled the nest apart and destroyed the eggs.  Some were titillated to the point of participation.

After learning about the “Fly”- catcher, many of the students found humor in my sighting of a Blue-grey Gnatcatcher, quickly gleaning the related logic for these noms de guerre.

Perhaps these interactions with avian eugenics gave the students an appreciation of feathered motherhood, as they were all quick to move quietly along when we surprised a nesting goose who was soon to be a mother (or depending on your pro-choice stance, she already was).

The kids enjoyed a close up view of a sleeping Screech Owl, which was unconcerned to the point that none of us saw an open eye.

An Eastern (Rufous-sided for those of a different era) Towhee caused some of the students to remove iPod headphones as they completed the first of several plot studies and were told to drink their tea.

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Birds were not the only wildlife on display, of course, and the kids were attracted to some of the creepy and crawly creatures like Garter Snake and Fishing Spider.

The tally for the two days included the bird species mentioned above as well as Tree Swallow and Sparrow, Purple and Yellow Finch, American Crow, Northern Cardinal, Black-capped Chickadee, Brown-headed Cowbird, Eastern Phoebe, Great Blue Heron, Red-winged Blackbird, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Cedar Waxwing, American Robin, Blue Jay, Sparrows (Field, Song, and Chipping), Mourning Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Cooper’s Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Northern Flicker, Mallard and Wood Duck, Yellow Warbler, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Turkey Vulture, Rock Dove, Woodpeckers (Downy, Pileated, and Hairy), a variety of Gulls, and many birds that I was too slow or too far from to identify.

You may notice at this point that the Cerulean Warbler is not on the list.  Or like me you may have forgotten the stated reason for this post as it was rightly buried and lost in the hard-won interest and curiosity of some seventeen and eighteen-year olds who signed up for a trip as a way to avoid school for two days.  We did hear the Cerulean (again!) near the end of the second day, but any regret I may have felt had lost its spot to the idea that maybe some of these kids will someday hang a backyard feeder, or stop to look at a circling raptor.  It may be enough of a hook to change some behaviors that make the Cerulean so hard for me to find in the first place.

Technorati Tags: Cerulean Warbler, birding, i and the bird, genesee country nature center