Get It Right

Happy Mother's Day! I want to wish Mom all the best today and every day. I love you very much.

My allergies have finally calmed down, so to celebrate, I went birding yesterday morning. It has been a rainy weekend, but we were supposed to have a break for a few hours so I headed out to see if I missed all of the warblers that come through Kansas on their way north.

Fortunately, I wasn't too late: I saw prothonotary, Tennessee and yellow-rumped warblers, all of which were beautiful. Along the way, I saw some little thrushes that flitted in and out of my view, so I added "wood thrush" to my list. That evening, I emailed a partial list of my sightings to a friend of mine who has taught me a lot about birding and nature. He's a fellow member of our local Audubon group.

A few hours later, he replied that I did "pretty well" on my solitary walk, but he had a question: was I sure those were wood thrushes, or could they be the more common Swainson's thrushes?

Uh, oh! Many people wouldn't know (or care about) the difference, but I'm a birder so I care. I could easily have said, "Oh, yes, I'm sure they were wood thrushes. How could you question me?" But I didn't do that, mostly because I suddenly suspected that he might be right. I thought back and realized I'd seen the birds in shadow, without taking particular note of their color, and I'd made an assumption. Big mistake! So what to do?

I did the only thing that made sense: I went back this morning. I was very lucky because the rain held off but the sky was ominous enough that there weren't very many people there. My reward for double-checking myself was a perfect morning of birding ... and I saw even more birds than the day before!

Sure enough, my friend was right: those were Swainson's thrushes. I was certain this time and I learned my lesson: don't assume that you know what that bird over there is. Look closely, which is how I saw a hummingbird, an indigo bunting, catbirds and a cedar waxwing. Each time I thought it was something common, but each time my assumption was wrong and it was a good thing I checked with my binoculars.

Now I can feel good about my two-day list of birds because I know it's right. And I thanked my friend for correcting me. That's how I learn.

I just wish the lesson could always be learned in such a beautiful setting, full of birdsong and the occasional rumble of thunder.