Birding is chancy!

Birding is chancy.

When I take a second loop around a trail or make a repeat pass at a spot visited earlier, it amazes me the things that I saw the first time that I did not see the second time (sometimes the second pass is better, and I feel lucky to have repeated my steps).

Birding is just like that. To connect with a bird, you have to be going in a direction that puts you in the path of a bird. Slightly different trajectories could cause the connection to be missed. For all the sightings I do make, there are probably many more that do not happen because a difference of a few feet of distance, a timing off by a few seconds or minutes, or a noise that calls my attention to the left but distracts me from the right. That birding is chancy is not a principle of birding that I stick by, but more a key understanding of how birding, and perhaps life, works.

I have been deepening this understanding since I started looking at birds, and even using that phrase, "birding is chancy," for years. Two recent experiences from the last couple weeks in the Bronx demonstrate the understanding perfectly.

Raptors and Dickcissel near the landfill in Pelham Bay Park

Osprey

I birded the southern zone of Pelham Bay Park in Bronx County, New York, today (October 1, 2017). Near the southwestern edge of the landfill, there is a brushy area between the landfill and Eastchester Bay. A Dickcissel popped up briefly and then landed on the fence that blocks off access to the bay. I was not able find this bird again despite being in the general vicinity for the next 4 hours. I got some poor photos that are on the eBird list linked below.

Dickcissel, out of normal range! Sure, on the Osage Plains of
the Midwest this is a common species, but not in NYC!