Friday, January 26, 2007

Back to Birding

I've been on a hiatus. No official birding excursions, no GGRO volunteering, barely even used my binoculars lately. But that's all changing.

Against all odds my brother is catching the twitcher bug. His first trip out of the country, to Africa, has awakened his inner birder. And in turn reawakened mine. That days are getting longer again helps as well. That 2006 is over and behind us is a boon.

So here then is my 2007 Proclamation and Manifesto.

1) Go birding more. Incorporate it into everything I do outdoors and much more of my indoor time as well. I've got the Peterson Bird Calls of the West to learn, several new books w/CD's of bird calls, and David Attenburogh's Life Of Birds to view.

2) Get outside more. Hiking, biking, walking along the shore. Whatever. Stay outside as long as possible every day. Fear not the rain (get rain pants).

3) Plan outdoor events. Camping, day hikes, weekend drives outside our normal range. We almost left decided to move away from California a few months ago. If that ever does happen I don't want to later realize how much of California I missed. It's time to double-down and see ALL of California.

4) Open my birding horizons. I started with hawk watching, duck ID'ing, and marveling at Herons and Egrets. I've come to appreciate all birds now, but I really need to learn them more.

5) Concentrate on learning bird calls. It's wonderful to have gotten the tools. Now use them.

6) Learn the constellations.

7) Learn the trees. I got a constellation and a tree book free from work from a series called Stikky. As in Stikky Trees and Stikky Sky. I started to learn the trees and the new memory technique was working. Then we moved and I lost the books, only to have found them recently. I've been fascinated by the night sky for as long as most people my age, but can't hardly name anything bu the Big Dipper and Orion. I want to know where Cassiopeia is, or at least how to spell it.

8) Be more efficient at work, so I have more time to what I want during the day.

That's it for now. Be back soon.

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