"There are no uninteresting things, only uninterested people."
― G.K. Chesterton
Another gorgeous Sunday full of sunshine, warm weather, and birds! Speaking of birds ... did you know birdwatching is one of the most boring hobbies? That's right! According to research conducted by the University of Essex, some of the most boring hobbies include religion, watching TV, birdwatching, and smoking. Woo hoo! Right up there with smoking, folks:
A point of clarification is needed here: Apparently, a higher rating (above table) indicates that a hobby is seen as characteristic of a boring person ― things boring people do. This wouldn't necessarily demonstrate that birding or birdwatching is boring, but means that such people (birders) are stereotypically perceived as boring.
The paper concludes:
"Stereotypically boring people are genuinely disliked. Specifically, our research shows that people who possess stereotypically boring features are perceived as both less interpersonally warm and less competent, and they elicit social avoidance by others—coming across as boring is thus rooted in stereotypes that people hold, which are likely to materialize in social repercussions."
If you're bored, you needn't keep reading. More than anything else, this is a blog about watching and photographing birds. Perhaps one take-home message here is that birders are generally disliked. I guess I could see that. I'm a birder and I generally dislike most birders I've gotten to know ― a few exceptions here and there. Naturally, most of us are things other than birders, right? But what if birding is all you do with your free time?
You're probably just ... boring.
Anyway, back to birding!
I haven't been feeling well the past few days on account of a coronavirus. It's a common cold probably due to garden variety rhinovirus, but did you know that coronaviruses account for around 20% of all colds? Anyway, I didn't go far from home and drove to a few nearby ponds. I was hoping to see Red-breasted Mergansers at Stricker's Pond, but it's still covered with ice. There were some recently arrived Song Sparrows there, so I spent some time photographing them.
Dapper little dudes, aren't they?
The early spring choir is Red-winged Blackbird, Eastern Meadowlark, Northern Cardinal, American Robin, and Song Sparrow. Whenever this quintet plays on sunny March days, it really gives one hope for living in the moment and also what's to come.
Eastern Meadowlark serenading to the rising sun ...
Dreadfully boring Canada Geese ...
And then this happened!
Holy smokes! White-winged Crossbills at Stricker's Pond. I was digiscoping the Song Sparrows and heard the flock fly in. At first they came down to the edge of the pond, took quick sips of water, and then flew to nearby conifer trees and voraciously tore into the cones.
Boring? No!
After feasting on cone seeds for awhile, the entire flock of a dozen-plus crossbills headed back to the trees at the edge of the pond, and then dove down for another sip of water.
I was able to get some pretty stunning shots as they flew into the leafless deciduous trees.
Still a good portrait, but I didn't have enough time to jockey around to get that interfering branch from obstructing this bird.
Some waited ...
Some rested ...
Some kept right on eating ...
And ... wait, that's a house!
Yeah, so some of them terrorized nearby residential houses. Actually, several of the crossbills were finding things to eat trapped in the eaves ― sharp birds to realize that. I haven't had many encounters with this species, but I've never seen any bird do this before.
After bathing at the pond's shore, this lovely crossbill found a nice sunny open perch to dry its feathers.
So, there you have it. BORING. This is why I also:
Look at the night sky with my C8.
Collect Fossils, and all kinds of other things.
Photograph insects, especially tiger beetles and hoppers.
Photograph wildflowers.
Journal/blog.
Play and collect Fender guitars.
Attend live music performances.
Collect Optical Devices.
Target-shoot with a variety of firearms.
How the hell is golf and playing video games less boring than birding!?
Middleton Area: March 20th, 2022
44 species
Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Mallard
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Mourning Dove
Sandhill Crane
Killdeer
Ring-billed Gull
Turkey Vulture
Cooper's Hawk
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
American Kestrel
Blue Jay
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
Horned Lark
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
European Starling
Eastern Bluebird
American Robin
House Sparrow
House Finch
Common Redpoll
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch
White-winged Crossbill
Dark-eyed Junco
Song Sparrow
American Tree Sparrow
Eastern Meadowlark
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Northern Cardinal
All images © 2022 Mike McDowell