Birding

Leaves in Autumn: A Birder’s Bane

October 21, 2013 by Corey 3 Comments

How many times has the following happened to you?

You are out birding on a crisp fall day. An interesting bird catches your eye but you are unable to get a defining look. You set yourself to get a good view, eyes in binoculars, intent on where the bird disappeared. Then the tiny portion of your eye somehow not completely in your binoculars detects movement. You break your concentration to see what else is moving and see this:

leaf falling

A falling leaf isn’t even close to being a bird. And, yes, this is the best picture I could get of a falling leaf despite devoting a full half-hour to trying.

When you refocus yourself on where the bird you were trying to figure out disappeared to you never spot it again. It was probably an amazing rarity and you are left with nothing but a falling leaf. Oh, the indignity!*

I propose an immediate defoliation campaign to commence every year on the first weekend of September. That should fix everything. Who’s with me?

dead leaves

The only good leaves are dead leaves!

…

*Having a three-year-old son makes my allusions a little bit less literary.

Written by Corey
Corey is a New Yorker who lived most of his life in upstate New York but has lived in Queens since 2008. He's only been birding since 2005 but has garnered a respectable life list by birding whenever he wasn't working as a union representative or spending time with his family. He lives in Forest Hills with Daisy and Desmond Shearwater. His bird photographs have appeared on the Today Show, in Birding, Living Bird Magazine, Bird Watcher's Digest, and many other fine publications. He is also the author of the American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of New York.