Romy Benton Bamboo

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06/13/2008: "This is for the birds"

11:30 PM, June 12th: just got home from the Complex, where we've finally sorted out the relocation wreckage enough to get some actual work done. Feels good! This morning I lingered for awhile at the Swamp Shack before heading into the Complex to work, since the weather has finally turned toward early-summer norms. Might not last, though: fingers still crossed.

It's a birder's paradise here at the Shack: we live on a riverside surrounded by mixed woods, and the list of local species is long. This morning I took the binoculars across the small creek which empties into the Tualatin river at the corner of our lot and spent some time observing a red-breasted sapsucker nest. These birds are cavity nesters, and the nest in question is pecked into a dead tree just across the creek. It was great sitting twenty feet from the nest and watching the parents visit again and again to shove beakfuls of bugs into the gaping maws of the loudly-cheeping youngsters -- well, I couldn't see the actual feeding, just the parents ducking repeatedly into the nest hole -- but the fledglings should soon be peeking out of the portal in anticipation of their introduction to the wide world, and I'll be there to watch! Good-quality 10x binoculars are da bomb, man.

Where to begin on the bird list? We get occasional bald eagle flybys over the river, and ospreys are our neighbors: in fact, last year we were treated to the 45-minute spectacle of an osprey feasting on a sizable fish in our backyard! (And an osprey flew right by while I was watching the sapsucker nest.) Kingfishers dart about all day with their distinctive rasping calls, and pileated woodpeckers visit from time to time. Redtail hawks and turkey vultures soar high overhead, and great blue herons are regular visitors to the riverside, even entering the yard when the water is high. Of course, Canada geese and ducks of several species swim by with their broods at this time of year. At nightfall, we're regaled by the resonant hoots of great horned owls...

...And that's just pecking at the surface. The feeders we maintain year-round attract innumerable chickadees, juncoes, jays, finches, hummingbirds, sparrows, bushtits, downy woodpeckers, nuthatches, flickers, thrushes, grosbeaks, warblers, towhees and more. (List to be expanded after memory refreshment.)

Practically all paleontologists agree that birds evolved from a certain class of dinosaurs -- note the generalization here, since I'm too lazy to look up citations right now -- so in a sense it's silly to say that dinosaurs "went extinct." Indeed, many of them still walk and fly among us in the contemporary form of birds. Birds rock the ages! -r.

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Replies: 9 Comments

Posted by Marc
Friday, June 13th

Just scored some Nikon 8x42 Monarch #7430 binoculars on ebay and plan to do some birding here in Miami. There's capricious cardinal that I'd like to observe a bit closer. Hope I don't miss the extra 2x magnification!

Posted by RB
Friday, June 13th

Ah, yes-- those Nikon Monarchs were extremely well-reviewed on a couple of binocular sites I recently checked out. Apparently Nikon chose the name in order to appeal to butterfly watchers, since the Monarchs have a very short minimum focusing distance.

Our Eagle Optics Rangers also focus down to a distance of about five feet, which is a great feature and useful for bug-viewing and whatnot.

The difference between 8x and 10x is fairly negligible in most situations, and overall optical quality is MUCH more significant. Sounds like quite an eBay score there, Mark-- happy birding and bugging!

(A few minutes later) Hmmm... just visited eBay, and the Monarch label seems to be attached to all sorts of Nikon products, including rifle scopes-- which gives an entirely new slant to butterfly hunting!

Posted by Marc
Saturday, June 14th

The seller I bought from sells alot of hunting stuff (NOT for me, as I prefer to harmonize with, not kill, what's in my scope).

Thanks for the info. Much appreciated. Stay well.

Posted by Marc
Saturday, June 14th

The seller I bought from sells alot of hunting stuff (NOT for me, as I prefer to harmonize with, not kill, what's in my scope).

Thanks for the info. Much appreciated. Stay well.

Posted by Marc
Saturday, June 14th

Forgive the stutter!

Posted by Romy
Monday, June 16th

No problem, Marc-- are you sure you don't want to sell me some erectile-dysfunction meds?

Posted by Marc
Thursday, June 19th

Hahahahaha!!!

Posted by Marc
Thursday, June 19th

Oh yeah, forgot to mention that the Nikon Monarchs are great!

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