Today BFF Linda and I headed toward College Station to attend a relative’s wedding. Once again we were blessed with a beautiful crystal blue sky day, perfect temperatures and we set out in good spirits. It is my practice to never travel (even within the city) without having my binocs with me. To see a bird and not be able to get an up close and personal look for identification is very frustrating. So there one of the best tools of birding remains….in my car to satisfy my desire to feed my voracious appetite of learning more about this relatively new hobby of mine.
It would take us approximately two hours or so to reach our destination with many miles of potential bird perches between start and finish. Driving along the highways presents you with an excellent opportunity to BBC (Bird By Car). As I drive, my eyes are always scanning fence lines, fence posts, power lines and poles. Mile after mile there are perching birds or soaring birds if we train ourselves to be more observant.
When a bird is spotted, we try to pull over, stop and get the bird into our binoculars for identification.Then off again until we see another one. On our trip today we spotted many Starlings, Red-tail Hawks, a Crested Caracara, Black Vultures, and Great Blue Herons. The thrill is in the hunt. And even if it is one we have seen many times before, the fulfillment and satisfaction of the spotting and identification never gets old.
Happy bird searching!
ginnybirdbeakspeak 