Ralph T

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April 2008 Yesterday, Barbara Butler and I taught a class for the Life Long Learning Institute at Bard College. I began with an introduction which included two questions for myself: 1) How did I get into birding and 2) why do I do it? I’m indebted to my late father-in-law for introducing me to birding. He gave me and my wife our first binoculars, taught us some bird songs and took us on walks, where he pointed out common birds. He was a New York City boy but loved the outdoors. He grew up at a time when watching birds was considered strange and/or unmasculine. His job was in lower Manhattan, by a park which often was visited by many birds in migration. When co-workers asked why he was carrying binoculars, his answer would be, “I’m going to the track”. That was a safe answer then. Now, with the immense popularity of birding, it’s no longer necessary. I wish my father-in-law could have lived to see all the changes. Periodically, someone who knows I’m a birder will ask me some variation on, “What’s so appealing about watching birds?” I tend to give answers, like, “they fly” – something humanity has always envied – or “it’s like a treasure hunt”. When I thought about it some more, for the class, I realized a lot of the appeal, especially in recent years, it’s that I’m always learning something new. Most of my adult learning has been focused on my profession, psychology, from college to graduate school, to licensing to continuing education. And much of it has been done because I’ve had to do it to practice, pass courses, etc. But I just do birding for myself and learning about them has been like starting all over again, and I’ve been delighted that I can still learn something new. This stood out for me several years ago, when I began to learn bird songs – it was like learning a new foreign language again – I had to do some memorization, learn mnemonics and practice. While I’m not great, I’m good enough. And I, guess, part of the answer to why I bird is that it continues to make me feel young. Maury Lacher February 2008 Last Sunday, Channel 13's Nature series had a program entitled, "Crash, a Tale of Two Species". It was about the interdependence of the Horseshoe Crab and the Red Knot, the former being over harvested in the Delaware Bay and the latter, dependent on the crab, being on the verge of extinction. The Red Knot is a shorebird that migrates annually between the Arctic tundra and the southernmost part of South America. To perform this amazing feat, it depends upon key food sources along the way, one of which is eggs laid by the Horseshoe Crab on the shores of Delaware Bay. With less Horseshoe Crabs, less Knots. It's a sad example about how some of our most interesting and specialized birds (as well as other creatures) can be made extinct by human activities. I, myself, had the good fortune to see these shore birds massed along a beach on the Cape May peninsula several years ago. It would be a shame if future generations will have to miss out on this.

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