Birding in 2009... The main difference between then and now is that then I didn't know I was birding. Yes, I was going out and taking lots of photos of birds and yes, I started this blog specifically to keep track of what I was seeing (and share it all with my mom who loves birds). But I didn't know birding was a thing. I had no idea what a life list was, or a county list, or eBird or OBOL or any of that.
Also, I ignored small birds for the most part.
When I did venture a guess at a small bird I was wrong. I called this a Savannah Sparrow.
Bird ID in 2009... I would open up my Peterson's Guide and make my best guess, throw it on my blog, and wait to see if one of my two initial readers (Laura and Michele) would correct me.
I did not misidentify this bittern though. I wrote, "here is an american bittern... i had never seen one before and i thought he was cool looking." Capital letters were something I did not appreciate back then.
I called this Rough-legged Hawk a Bald Eagle. Because, you know, white on top. Laura Whittemore left me a very kind comment: "Your Bald Eagle is actually a very nifty Rough-legged Hawk - a tundra dweller that resides here in the winter. From a distance it looks like a vanilla ice cream cone - dark cone and white scoop on top. Great find! Also, they really like to perch on skinny branches just like in the photo."
She is so helpful!
Where I birded in 2009... I was of the mindset that to find interesting birds I had to visit wildlife refuges and parks. Most of my birding time was spent driving the Ridgefield NWR auto tour, visiting various refuges and preserves I found through google or other people's blogs, and walking my dog at local parks, especially Thousand Acres (aka Sandy River Delta pre-parking lot) and Kelley Point Park. My photos were mostly of dogs with an occasional bird thrown in.
I visited Tualatin River NWR and someone showed me a Western Screech-Owl. That same week I drove a couple hours up to Nisqually NWR and someone showed me a Short-eared Owl through a scope. Owls must only exist at wildlife refuges, right?
Keeping track of birds in 2009... This blog was my only means of tracking sightings. I mean, that was why I started it. I could easily tell you if I had seen or not seen a particular species because I had seen so few. It wasn't until 2011 that I bought a notebook at Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary on Cape Cod and tried keeping lists of birds.
Photographing birds in 2009... I took a photo of every bird I saw that I thought I could identify. I have very few sparrow photos from the early days but hundreds of herons, ducks, eagles, hawks, and geese. I was using a little Canon Powershot I had bought the previous winter and thought my photos were pretty good. They were not but that is ok.
I remember being very happy with these photos back then. I don't think they would make the cut today.
2009... As I'm going through my old hard drive with my 2009 folder it's been fun to see how my photos changed throughout that year. Photos of friends and dogs (I still worked at the doggie daycare) and sometimes scenery evolved into mostly bird photos, lots of dog photos and some friends and family shots.
My life was drastically different: I lived in an apartment just off Interstate Ave, I was single, I worked at the doggie daycare full time, my friends were starting to all move away and I made no effort to replace them. Instead I reveled in the fact that I was no longer expected to be at a bar or a show till last call and spent my weekends exploring with Jake.
Now for 2019. If you read my blog you probably already know how things have changed, but here we go.
Birding in 2019... I definitely know I'm birding now. Even when I say I'm not. My stepson recently admitted he does not enjoy birding (we go too slow) but he loves hiking so last weekend we took him on a hike at Cascade Head in the future 5MR. Of course, we were still birding but we moved quickly enough he didn't notice as much.
Bird ID in 2019... Identifying birds has never been easier or harder! At least now I know what I'm looking at the majority of the time. I no longer rely on a Peterson's Guide but rather a combo of the Sibley app (love the comparison feature) and eBird photos. If I get tripped up by something I can still throw it on the blog and hope someone will point me in the right direction. For example, this accipiter from Cascade Head:
I'm pretty sure this is a Cooper's Hawk, but willing to be convinced otherwise.
Where I bird in 2019... IN MY FREAKIN 5MR! I've done some traveling this year, but my focus has been my cluster of birding patches in my 5MR (and my future 5MR). Not wildlife refuges. Some parks. A lot of random places I made into eBird hotspots.
Birds are everywhere, even owls.
Keeping track of birds in 2019... eBird eBird eBird! Lists lists lists! eBird! eBird! eBird! Lists! Lists! Lists! Yard lists, county lists, patch lists, 5MR lists, state lists, DAY BIRDS FTW! I love all lists.
Photographing birds in 2019... It's still a big part of birding for me though I often go birding without my camera. That said I've upgraded my gear several times over the decade and now use a Canon 80d with a 100-400mm lens. My pictures are better but I'm not trying to be a professional photographer.
2019... A lot has changed in the last decade. I acquired another dog, bought a house, quit working with dogs and started working at the Backyard Bird Shop, went on tons and tons of adventures, got better at birding, got better at blogging, started Birds and Beers with Sarah, made up a thing called a 5MR, met my husband, sold my house, started a world-wide 5MR challenge, got married, bought a house at the coast, and here we are now in Vancouver, Washington.
It hasn't all been smooth and easy but when I look back these ten years I don't dwell on the bad stuff. The good stuff has been way too amazing. GOOD TIMES!!!!!
Me in 2009:
Me in 2019:
