Black-footed Albatross. You can tell this haggard-looking adult has been spending a lot of time in Hawaii this year. San Francisco County, CA.
"I think that birders should not take themselves as seriously as they do." - Matt Brady
You hear that birders of the world? This statement has always played an important roll in BB&B's official policy, and we are glad that some people out there agree.
Some recent happenings:
- The Great Ornithologist Felonious Jive posted his monthly blog entry over at 10,000 Birds. Please go check out Selling Birds Short: A Heretical View Of Avian Intelligence.
- BB&B's first book review will be up soon.
- The next interview in our world famous/highly questionable Human Birdwatcher Project Series has been completed and will be up in the near future.
Long-billed Dowitchers, Marbled Godwits and Greater Yellowlegs. Arcata Marsh, CA.
Today's photos are all a tribute to The Economy of Style that many of California's birds employ. This phrase, brought into the BB&B lexicon by one "Cassin", is a commentary on the color schemes of many ocean-going birds, and some of their land-based bretheren as well. Check out An Economy of Style for some vintage BB&B goodness....that was way back before I had an SLR!
Lastly, I saw The Big Year yesterday. My review is this: if you are a birder, you have to go see it. It (unintentionally) has some pretty funny parts, and they don't slaughter what birding is all about. The bird blogger and Angelica Huston are hilarious, particularly if you've been on one of Debi Shearwater's trips. If you are not a birder, and are one of my friends who has asked me at one point, "Why birds? I don't get it.", then hopefully it will shed some light on what exactly is going on here.
Not a great movie, but it could have been a lot worse....
Parasitic Jaeger. San Francisco County, CA.
Olympic Gull attempting to choke down a starfish. King Salmon, CA.
I don't think I've ever posted a House Finch on BB&B before...cant forget those ubercommon birds. Near Novato, CA.
Great Egret, filtered through some manmade weirdness. Petaluma, CA.
Common Murres. San Mateo County, CA.
i think the human birdwatcher project should become a documentary film... just saying...
ReplyDeleteYes, re: economy of style. I was JUST talking with a friend re: gadwalls and my EARLY, first birding. Ducks 'n' stuff in San Diego (they're big and beautiful and slow, so good starter birds). I remember just STARING agog at gadwalls (close, in good lighting), not knowing what they were, but being amazed at how spectacular they were, w/practically no color scheme at all. Check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Anas-strepera-001.jpg FABulous.
ReplyDeletemurres!!!
A friend works for a few (way way northern) AK parks (NPS) and he said they filmed the Big Year in the Yukon (presumably among other places), and Owen Wilson was tripping out on the amazing landscape. =) Nature. Yup, it's cool. =)
We saw The Big Year with a bunch of Big Birders. They/we were laughing our asses off, the rest of the crowd, um.... not so much. BTW, skip that Ranger crap on my name for I am Actually and Truly the World's Laziest Birder. Most of the time, even the effort to raise my bins to my face is just too much effort.
ReplyDelete@Flicker - I know. I need funding. If any Hollywood producers are reading this, lets do lunch.
ReplyDelete@BB - Ducks are totally how I started birding too. At a sewage treatment plant (classic). Some of the shots when they were supposedly on Attu reminded me a lot of the high part of Buldir Island...beautiful!
@Marianne - Your apathy is commendable ;)