Extreme Birder: One Woman's Big Year

Epilogue

after the big year January 1, 2009 I birded again today to start the New Year, in spite of the miles and hours spent last year. While it was hard to slow down and get out of the big year mentality, it was great to know that I could enjoy the birds that I saw without needing to race around to get a big list. March 31, 2009 I am at home in Fort Worth. It’s a cool morning after a night of thunderstorms and some hail three months after my big year’s end. Outside the back window I can see two White-crowned Sparrows, at least three Lincoln’s Sparrows , and a few Chipping Sparrows skittering about onto the ground to find birdseed that I just threw out for them, braving the way-too-many House Sparrows, Brown-headed Cowbirds, and Common Grackles. Two Blue Jays are fighting with the White-winged Doves for sunflower seeds on the bird table, as two Northern Cardinals chirp at it all from a bush nearby and a lingering American Goldfinch flits over to the birdbath for a morning sip. Somewhere a Mourning Dove is sitting and sending forth its owl-like hoots. Earlier, Rufie, my Rufous Hummingbird, was talking to me from the cover of a dense Eleagnus along the back fence. If she’s got any thoughts at all, she’s probably thinking about the long journey north that she will start any day now. And me, I’m thinking about how wonderful it was to do my big year chasing birds from shore to shore, and also how wonderful it is that birds will come to me (or my yard) when my big year is over and I am no longer chasing them. In my mind, the images of the birds seen last year mingle with the images that I see in my yard now. Maybe that’s one reason I love birding so much—it can be enjoyed minute by minute wherever I am and wherever there might be birds, and it can be enjoyed in my memory anytime that I wish. epiLogue ...