People cue on the actions of others. During The Biggest Week in American Birding the cues are swift and intense.
On Saturday afternoon as I left Metzger Marsh I found a guy so intent on a bird that he was willing to scratch the finish on his truck to see it.
Walking on the car is forbidden in my family. This guy was breaking all the rules so I pulled over to take his picture.
Immediately, his sentinel position prompted others to stop too. “What are you looking at?”
In 60 seconds he had drawn a crowd.
I don’t know what prompted all the excitement. I was too hungry and “birded out” to ask. 😉
(photos by Kate St. John)
Scratch the finish? That can be the least of your problems!
When you walk or sit on the roof of a vehicle, you can put dents in the roof, BIG dents. You can pop them back out from the inside, but they’ll never be perfect!
I know, I did it once!
I can relate to being “birded out.” Funny how it happens. I wait and anticipate. May is coming. May is coming. Then it gets here and it’s almost as if the excitement is too much. Looking at the weather, getting up extra early every day, checking the reports….and such. It’s easy to get burnt out in the first week even.
ps—The Belmar NJ peregrines attempted to nest again on a local bridge (2nd yr. trying). Alas, I believe that the nest failed again. I have been spotting both adults together this week which does not bode well for successful results.
Great photos!! There was a Bald Eagle nest about 2 miles south of Magee Marsh also that a few (well, 5 vehicles one day, 7 another, and 2 another) people were stopping to view once we noticed other cars there. It was on a large dec. tree beside/behind a long dark reddish shed and we all parked on the gravel part of the shoulder near the resident’s driveway. That was late afternoon and what drew us there I believe was an adult eagle perched VERY close to the road across from the nest and shed.
It looks like the dude has a (large) tool box in the truck bed. It might be that he actually uses his truck (as a truck, as a tool, as a tool-carrier, as a stepladder?…) and is not concerned about scratches or dents.
NW Ohio is kinda flat; he might temporarily have been the tallest structure in that quadrant of the state.
(Walking on the car was verbotten in my family too.)