Not Quite White

A socially conscious American Kestrel deeply ponders The Race Question.

As some of you may know, Im not quite a white dude. Im half Korean and half Welsh.....at least thats what I'm told. People usually cant really tell my ethnicity by looking at me.....I can get away with being a white guy, a latino dude, Native American, a Phillipino or almost any type of asian. If I was into lying to people more than I am, probably no one besides my parents would know The Truth.

Anyhow, although I recieved some racist crap as a child and have gotten some gnarly hate looks in Texas, Im pretty happy with my genetic makeup. Girls with yellow fever (there are more than you would think!) have embraced me, and people want to employ me because I make their organization appear to be more diverse. Being the only Welsh-Korean (Korelsh?) hybrid anywhere I go (except for my living room, where Zack Brewer is usually found lurking. He has a similar genetic background but somehow appears Incredibly Jewish. But I digress.....), I think I have kind of an interesting and unique viewpoint as far as race is concerned.

Which leads us to today's topic: White People And Birding. As you probably know (if you are a birder), the vast majority of birdwatchers in the U.S. of A. are white. I have been an avid birder since 1994 (Jesus!), and have been around much of the country doing this. In all those years, I have seen a total of THREE (3) BLACK PEOPLE who were birdwatchers. Count em. I have run into, birded with and come across thousands of birders, and have seen only three black people. Am I the only one who finds this odd? Other birders I know dont talk about this very much, but then most of ya'll are white folk, pure as the driven snow. The only black birdwatcher I got a chance to talk to beyond the standard "See anything good today?" was Lewis Tucker, who was at the Arctic Warbler in Oceano back in 1996 or whenever that was. Ive been told he is an actor, but I cannot find any information about him. Anyways, he was a pretty cool dude as I recall.

Other races are better represented in the birding community, but still nothing approaching the ratios that these races occupy in the total populace. The truth is, in the U.S. anyways, birding is primarily a middle-upper class leisure activity for middle-aged and older Caucasian Americans, although it certainly doesnt have to be (fortunately I know of a number of exceptions). This seems to be a symptom of the division of classes, creeds and cultures in the country I think, and leads to bigger and more important questions about these issues that I wont bother dealing with here. It something to think about though, and I think getting the birding scene into some new communities could be a very positive thing.

But perhaps the answer to The Race Question in American birdwatching is simple; its so incredibly nerdy that only white people can withstand it. Ha!

Bang Bang The Bullets Fly

A couple weeks ago, I met up with my dad out in Williams to spend some time at some of the wildlife refuges in the region. We hung out at Sacramento NWR, Colusa NWR, drove by Delevan NWR and hung out at Grey Lodge Wildlife Area. Nothing to write home about in terms of rare birds, let alone bring back to mother, but fun nonetheless. Hanging out next to thousands of ducks and geese never get old....at one point I passed out next to a flock of honking geese, simply because it seemed like a good idea at the time. It was a hell of a lot better than passing out to Catch Me If You Can, which is what I did last night. Highlights were several American Bitterns, about 15 Eurasian Wigeon (plus a token hybrid), 9+ Bald Eagles, plus a few Tundra Swans and Sandhill Cranes. Since my dad has seemed to abandon any youthful aspect of humanity in his life, I was forced to attempt to sleep at godawful early hours, which required me to drink vast quantities of Jim Beam and Olympia in order to fall asleep so early.......I thought it was rather appropriate for Williams, for those who have ever been there.



This was one of the friendliest bitterns Ive had the pleasure of meeting. It ate a tadpole and otherwise just stood around....sounds good to me.



This is a pretty classic scene. Snow Geese and Red-winged Blackbirds, Colusa NWR.



"Specklebellies".



Friendly neighborhood Red-tailed Hawk. Bloodthirsty killer extraordinaire.



Bald Eagle. One of many at Sacramento NWR...this one was eying small children at the refuge's visitor center.



Close-up of the same bittern as above. Classy.

Several potential birding spots in the area were completely closed because they were reserved for hunters only, which bites the big one in my opinion. Birding areas like this, where huge roadside billboards advertise guided snow goose hunts instead of the newest Hollywood blockbuster/shitfest, brings one to think about hunting....its a topic birders, biologists and other wildlife-minded folk have conflicted views about. Is hunting your own food better than buying filthy, factory-farmed meat from Walmart or Safeway? You bet it is. Do hunters bring anything to The Table, the proverbial Big Picture? Of course. It gets people focused on the value of nature and wildlife, not to mention that the average hunter, in terms of pure economics, does a hell of a lot more for habitat conservation than the average birder. But thats not really the whole story. The hickish, conservative, anthropocentric idealism that often (not always) accompanies the hunting culture cannot be overlooked, can it? And how many species of wildlife in the world have been put to extinction or are well on their way there because of hunting pressure or indiscriminate shooting? A hell of a lot.....many thousands. Like most human activities, it can be quite beneficial if done right or brutally catastrophic if left unchecked.

However, there is one aspect of it that everyone can agree on......shooting shit is awesome.

Does The Apple Fall Far From The Tree?

Quote of the day:

"Gosh-diddly-darn pheasant!" - Jim Tucker, frustrated and cursing spitefully at a ring-necked pheasant this afternoon.

Having a father that is a cross between Eugene Levy and Ned Flanders is interesting indeed.

Laura Bush: Killer, Accomplice......Birdwatcher?

"No one can be anti-environment.....can they? It doesnt make sense." - Mr. Scott

Ah, if only you were right, Mr. Scott.

Mr. Scott was a highschool teacher of mine...I think he taought economics. Hell, that might not even be his name, but thats not the point. Mr. Scott was a Large Man who obviously thought sports were Very Important and gave off the distinct scent of being a raging Republican. After I graduated, he got into deep shit (rightfully so) for slandering a gay student of his. Anyway, I remember one day he briefly started talking about the environment. Already being a raging nerd (birdwatcher), I had my guard up, but was surprised when he had pretty positive things to say about the subject.

To this day, I am always shocked and surprised (although I know I shouldn't be) when I find out a conservative has any substantial environmental concerns. Ideologically, I am so skewed to the Left that I have difficulty thinking that I can find much more common ground with a Republican than agreeing that the sky is blue, water is wet and beer is good.

So today, I got a huge shock, and also an answer to one of the big political questions Ive been wondering about lately. Pretty much everyone will agree, on both sides of the political spectrum, that George W. Bush has been one of the worst (in my opinion, The Worst) presidents in American History. This is especially true when considering the environment. To my knowledge, he has done exactly two (2) good things of significance in his eight (8) year occupation of the White House; successfully helped fight the AIDS epidemic in Africa, and protect 340,000 square miles of ocean, coral reefs and islands from an array of potentially destructive activities.

Why, why would the president do anything to help protect the environment? The answer; his wife, of course.

The phenomenon of Powerful Women is well-documented and well-known. The question, then, is why would Laura Bush give a flying fuck about the ocean?

Because she is a birdwatcher.

Yes. I said it, and it appears to be true. Midway Island, my future home, was visited by Laura Bush a few years ago, and not coincidentally is now one of the centerpieces of the new national monument that has been put in place in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. At any given time, there are hundreds of thousands of seabirds nesting there, which probably melted Mrs. Bush's face right off, as it will mine.

I find it absolutely astounding that this has happened, especially for the reasons it did. Laura Bush has killed someone (look it up). She is married to a war criminal/the most hated man on the planet, and is probably one of the only people (if not The Only Person) who knows what Dubya is really thinking. And she is an avid birdwatcher.

Anyway, here is a cheesey excerpt from a speech she gave back in 2002 at a Girl Scout conference. Who knew?

“I remember that all the girls earned bird badges. For the girls in the troop, this just meant that we had completed our basic study of birds and bird watching, but for my mother, it led to what would become a lifelong hobby.”

“Bird watching became a big part of whatever we did as a family. We often drove out to the home of a woman we knew who kept her yard in its wild, natural state - just to attract birds.”

“I remember driving to see my grandparents when I was in high school, trying to sleep in the back of the car, when suddenly my mother would gasp, pull out her binoculars and announce, "There's a Hawk!" or "Did you see that Painted Bunting!' Being a teen-ager, I didn't want to be bothered, of course. But eventually, I did develop an interest in bird watching and the outdoors.”

“In fact, through bird watching I learned a little bit about "community" - about being a part of something bigger than my close group of family and friends.”

“One year, my mother identified a bird called a Varied Thrush in our own back yard. This was a rare bird for that part of Texas.”

“During the bird's stay in our garden, a lot of bird watchers in our town would come over on their lunch hours, sit at the counter in our kitchen and patiently wait for the bird to show up. As they waited, they got to know each other better through their common interest.”

“A lot of times the bird would never come, but when it did, everyone would jump up and hug each other -- they were so thrilled that they had spotted this rare bird. And my Dad would watch it all and say to me, ‘You know, bird watchers are really good people.’"

- Laura Bush

Finally, here is a passage from the San Francisco Chronicle. Fucking hilarious.

The debate over the latest maritime national monuments was notable chiefly because it featured a standoff between first lady Laura Bush, a bird-watcher, and Mr. Dark Side himself, Vice President Dick Cheney, who opposed the plan. But without oil exploration crews and fishing trawlers in the picture, it wasn't much of a fight.

The Possibilities Are Endless

There are plenty of other fish in the sea, Grub.

2009 is already shaping up to be one of the most epic years in......well......years. This applies on all levels.....people are on the move. On a national scale, we will be tackling the "global financial crisis", climate change, soaring unemployment, and a potentially good president (wha?), although I doubt he will live up to the hype (if he farts, it will break hearts). Prop 8 may or may not be inforced, although most would have to agree that taking away people's rights is unconstitutional. There are wars going on in Afghanistan, Iraq and The Gaza Strip, to name a few......and who knows if the international community will do anything about the many ongoing conflicts that continue in Africa. Last but not least, Bush and Cheney will be out of the public sphere, and I hope they go on to die terrible, painful, fucked-up deaths. Good riddance.

People you and I know and love will be faced with difficult situations as well. Will The Grub find True Love? When will Lena find a job? Can Kevin raise a child? Where will Drew (Neutral) go when he graduates? Will "Jeromessey" perish in the jungles of Central America, or the barren wasteland of "The Playa"? Will Pinko actually move to Portland? Will Samantha Fay have a child as attractive as Samantha Fay? In a few short months, the status quos for many of us will have dissappeared.

Personally, 2009 has more potential than 2006, "The Year Of The Ashtray". 2007 was kind of like The Year Of The Reset Button, and I think 2008 will go down as The Year Of The Burrowing Owl, as going back to do that job kind of cemented the idea in my head that I want to ditch a sedentary, slave-like lifestyle for a more nomadic one. The possibilities will be endless on Midway Island, and I have absolutely no clue what I will be doing when I get back to the mainland at the end of May. Things are surely shaping up for The Year Of The Albatross, but who knows what will happen? Maybe things will just degenerate to The Year Of The Smegma......but I dont really anticipate that.