Sometimes mundane birds are fun too!

[ArchTeryx]

Around my workplace at Ohio State, we seem to be having a bumper crop of Chipping Sparrows this year. Most people would consider Chippers to be a 'common' bird, but watching the little bits of pugnaciousness is nearly as entertaining as watching Carolina Chickadees. They're almost as inquisitive as the chickadees and few things are more fun then the local Chippers telling the house sparrows just who their daddy is. :>

Though the best thing has to be rescuing one of their young fledglings from an athletic field and putting it safely in a nearby tree.

I haven't had time to do any "real" birding in a long time, and it's been good for me. I started learning to appreciate the "mundane" and ended up getting a real treat. :)

-- ArchTeryx

[Stepup2]

1. I have caught some interesting birds

by paying attention to lbb's too. A very seasoned birder once taught me never know who is hanging about; it always pays to look. Besides, IMO, all birds are fun/worthwhile despite their list appeal.

[semillama]

2. I wonder if I have birded with you, ArchTeryx

I'm a Columbus birder, too. Your post on the other thread about the swamp full of Prothonotary Warblers made me think you were local to Central Ohio.

I go out on as many of the Columbus Audubon trips as I can, and I recently started going out on the Avid trips as well. I just did the Clear Creek MetroPark CA trip - got a number of life birds for me there!

At my workplace, it's observing Starlings and House Sparrows interacting on the next roof, with the occasional landing on my window sill of a House Finch.

[ArchTeryx]

3. Not, sadly...

I haven't been out on a birding trip proper for 12 years (!!). Pretty much ever since I lost my binoculars and spotting scope to Greyhound around 1993, I've been inactive. The swamp full of Prothonotary warblers was on my last birding trip.

My allergies and recent physical problems (ulcerative colitis) have kept me out of the field in more recent years.

Still, if I can get this tamped down, I'm seriously considering at least trying to pick up a mid-end set of binoculars and start birding again. Keep me on your buddy list -- I could use a liason into the local birding scene. :)

[semillama]

4. well, keep an eye on this site, then!

http://www.ohiobirds.org/