I’ve been birding most of my life, watching the birds that showed up in my yard, the park or on a wire. My dad, an avid outdoorsman, would quiz me on what each bird looked like and have me study the Peterson Field Guide he had given me. Vacations in my family were all centered on what’s outside the window. On our walks in the National Parks I carried my bins and a field guide and part of the fun was IDing the birds, always with the encouragement of my hero. It wasn’t just birds but rocks, trees, flowers and such. All were important to me to have a name. As I grew so did my passion and my library. Books on cactus, wild flowers, mammals, rocks etc. all made their way into the car as we headed to a new natural wonder of planet earth.  

Now you are asking what does this have to do with the title of this piece. I’m getting there! After I retired I finally had the time to devote to birding and my husband Phil and I headed out on the adventure of full time RVing. Trying to visit and bird our National Wildlife Refuges and birding hot spots of N. America. My life list grew and so did my confidence. After Phil’s death I ended up here in The Villages and once again had a great teacher as I found “The Village Birders” and Norm Lantz. When Norm asked me to lead the club all my confidence was in question (“I can’t do this!”). Four years later my confidence has risen again and it sure helps to have great birders in our club like Jim Dinsmore and Paul Nistico to name a few.

Now I’ll get to the point. This is a warning: If you expect a certain species to be in a certain place your brain will put it there even if your eyes tell you otherwise. Knowledge sometimes can be a dangerous thing. We birders now have great tools to find birds and locations where they are being seen.

This past January the club had a wonderful day of birding at Zellwood Farms. As we stopped near the gate on Lust Rd. I searched for a Western Kingbird that had been reported seen there. The W. Kingbird is normally seen each winter in this area of Zellwood. My brain knew this as I spotted a Kingbird on the fence and instantly called out W. Kingbird to all, wanting everyone to get a look. Someone even asked about the yellow band on the tip of its tail and I recall commenting on how dark the gray breast was, but still accepted the species as a W. Kingbird. All got a look and I headed out to try for the Ash-throated Flycatcher, also reported there. I was content until Jim expressed his ID as a Cassin’s Kingbird. Now my brain woke up as it registered that yellow band on the tail and dark gray breast which I knew was not seen on the W. Kingbird. Out came the ole field guide and sure enough we had seen a Cassin’s, a new bird for the club. Thanks to Jim for jarring my brain back from its preprogrammed state.

Yes, this has been a valuable lesson. If you expect to see a tree and a bush is there, you may call it a tree! Keep an open mind while birding and never assume. That’s the reason for the field guide.