Spark Bird
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Feb 20, 2009 | by Adrian Binns
We all have a bird that sparked our interest in the hobby we love. That one bird that made you realize that it was something special, exciting and wonderful. That one bird that got you hooked on birding. It may have been when you were younger or maybe later on in life, either way we all remember what that one bird was. Whatever it was – a ubiquitous backyard bird or a bird seen on an exotic trip, it was likely something that connected you with nature. We all have one. Some us may even remember exactly when and where it happened!
What was the one bird that sparked your interest?
My good friend Jeff Gordon, author, writer, tour leader and talented videographer, had a lot of fun asking participants at the 2007 Cape May Autumn Weekend what their ‘spark bird’ was. The result was a youtube video that you can see below.
Thanks to Jeff for allowing me to showcase his video. Jeff can be found blogging at http://jeffreyagordon.com/
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Very nice video,
You can tell the excitement in their voices!
Can you tell us about your spark bird?
Huuuuuuummmmmmm… I’m gonna have to noodle on that one for a little while….cuz I’m thinkin’ it wasn’t so much as a spark bird, but more just my mom, who as a teen, I remember, always had a pair of binocs on her side table in the living room to spy the birds visiting the back yard feeder…. so maybe the goldfinch, because they weren’t frequent vivisors to the feeder, but they did live in the fields behind our house….
Or maybe it was the flicker (yellow-shafted) that I was able to TOUCH during a winter hike in SE Ohio one time…. It was perched knee high on the trunk of a tree, after a beautiful snowfall….. As I approached, it didn’t fly away, it simply scootched around to the other side of the trunk to remove itself from my view…. But as I came even closer, it still did not fly away…. It never did, so I approached, and touched it..not knowing at the time what kind of bird it was…. (I, to this day, do not know if it was ill, stunned, frozen, or what?) But when I got home, I looked that bird right up in the Peterson’s guide and discovered the flicker…. Yeah, that’s my spark bird…. They still capture my fancy today…. I love when I see them in the yard…. On a good day, I’ve seen at leat 3 pr…. I put some cracked corn out last week for the first time this winter and a couple stopped by for a while….
P.S. GREAT VIDEO!!!!!
I have yet to see a pileated …. I WANT TO SEE ONE!!! Once I finally saw a bald eagle in the wild (well, ok…a pair perched atop an electrical tower along busy Route 30 near Lancaster, does that count?!) the pileated has become my most burning birding desire!!!!!!