I like your "glass half full" approach! I, too, have a wish list of birds, but not just species, specific behaviors, like your frigatebird's. Working for the National Aviary in Pittsburgh has given me the chance to see a number of wonderful displays and behaviors, like those of the Great Argus, Raggiana Bird-of-Paradise, and Victoria Crowned Pigeon that I almost certainly will not have the chance to see in the wild. But, I adore the crepuscular spiraling flight and calls of amorous American Woodcocks in early spring, and I never tire of seeing it! Less common but equally wonderful is the twittering wolf whistle that rains down from the clouds over expansive hayfields as an Upland Sandpiper reaches the zenith of its aerial courtship flight (a sight and sound ever more rarely seen and heard here in Pennsylvania). And what about the Bobolink's crazy, robotic-sounding "plink-a tink-a-tink..." singing as it flies low over the fields on stiffly bowed wings? And the surprisingly graceful and aerobatic display of swoops and dives of courting Turkey Vultures, and ....
Do I wish I could see every one of the world's amazing bird species--sure I do! But, I am endlessly happy to watch the same birds that I see every day, over and over again, because they almost always delight me with a new move or interaction with their world that I've not seen before. My cup is more than half full--it runneth over!
Wow, it is so fun living vicariously through your words, pictures and sounds! Thanks again Laura!!
I like your "glass half full" approach! I, too, have a wish list of birds, but not just species, specific behaviors, like your frigatebird's. Working for the National Aviary in Pittsburgh has given me the chance to see a number of wonderful displays and behaviors, like those of the Great Argus, Raggiana Bird-of-Paradise, and Victoria Crowned Pigeon that I almost certainly will not have the chance to see in the wild. But, I adore the crepuscular spiraling flight and calls of amorous American Woodcocks in early spring, and I never tire of seeing it! Less common but equally wonderful is the twittering wolf whistle that rains down from the clouds over expansive hayfields as an Upland Sandpiper reaches the zenith of its aerial courtship flight (a sight and sound ever more rarely seen and heard here in Pennsylvania). And what about the Bobolink's crazy, robotic-sounding "plink-a tink-a-tink..." singing as it flies low over the fields on stiffly bowed wings? And the surprisingly graceful and aerobatic display of swoops and dives of courting Turkey Vultures, and ....
Do I wish I could see every one of the world's amazing bird species--sure I do! But, I am endlessly happy to watch the same birds that I see every day, over and over again, because they almost always delight me with a new move or interaction with their world that I've not seen before. My cup is more than half full--it runneth over!