Okay, so we have settled once again in Taoyuan City. I have this hobby; I like to take pictures of
birds. Everybody thinks I’m a
birdwatcher and I guess you could say that, but I watch them to understand
their behaviors and what they look and sound like so that I can get reasonably
adequate photos of them. Really, I’m
neither a good birdwatcher nor a good photographer.
When I was in the university, oh so long ago, I studied
animals, birds and insects as a biology major.
I was into it. I wanted to be one
of those biologist types that went out and studied specific animals or
birds. I wanted to count Bighorn Sheep,
or bears, or birds. Basically, I just
wanted to be outside in nature, doing science stuff. I even had my own stereo microscope, to look
at really small stuff.
But it was not to be.
When I got out into the non-academic world, (the “real” world”) I ended
up driving a trash truck. At least I got
to be outside, but it was a suburban environment, Bighorn Sheep are pretty rare
in the “burbs”, so I didn’t do much counting.
If I’m being honest, I have to say that I loved driving that truck. Trash was my life, which is better than the
other way around, if you catch my meaning.
There may not have been too many Bighorn Sheep, but there
were lots of birds. I worked in California,
and I knew all the local bird species, and their songs and calls. I also used to be pretty good with a dichotomous
key, too. (This was waaaay before Google
was even thought of.)
When I moved to Taiwan, I didn’t see any of the birds I was
familiar with, so I had to find some way to identify them. I bought a book titled, “Birds of East Asia, China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan and Russia” by Mark Brazil. That’s a huge area, and
there are thousands of species listed and shown. It’s really too cumbersome to be a field
guide. You have to be sure to check the
range to find the birds you’re seeing. I
couldn’t do all that and identify the birds, while I was out cruising
around. Hence, the photography aspect of
all of this, I bought a decent camera so I could take a photo, then I could sit
at my desk and figure out what I saw. Now I use Cornell Lab’s excellent app
called Merlin, for identification, by sight or sound. It’s free, so you can just put it on your
phone and download a “bird pack” for the area where you will be and you can
depend on it identify the birds you see.
My wife and I moved here from Arizona, recently, and not
only are the birds different, but the environment is also different. We lived in the Sonoran Desert, Tucson actually, and it’s interesting how the colors have changed. Taiwan is a lush, sub-tropical environment,
Tucson is a dry, dusty desert. So, I
wanted to show the difference in the environment. The environment influences
the look of the birds as well. Check it
out.
Tucson - Desert Birds (Notice the Browns and Olive Greens in the Backgrounds)
Gambell's Quail
Cactus Wren (Arizona State Bird) on a Cholla Cactus
Say's Phoebe
Greater Roadrunner
Taiwan - Sub-Tropical Birds (Notice the Green Colors in the Backgrounds)
Light-vented Bulbul
Cattle Egret (Non-breeding Plumage)
Black-collared Starling
Common Sandpiper (Wading Bird)
Author's Photo: Emily Banducci
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