Birds are deceptive. I don't say this in a "they're all government drones" way, which is certainly a view that people have, but more in reference to how deceptively large they are. Maybe not all of them. Your common backyard guys, your bird-feeder friends, are pretty much small, flying tennis balls.
But a gull? Have you ever been close to a Herring Gull? Seen a Great Black-backed Gull flying at the beach? With a wingspans that range up to 5.25 feet, gulls are not as small as they would want you to believe. (My conspiracy theory is that hiding their true size might be how gulls lull us into the false belief that we can be mean to them and they won't fuck us up entirely by defensive vomiting on us. I support those little chaos demons.)
All this gull talk is to tell you that there are some big fuck-off birds out there, hanging out not that far away from you, including the Northern Harrier. This owl-ish raptor had my brain doing the "what is that massive bird?" dance at Hampton Beach Start Park, taking off from somewhere around the dunes. By comparison, maybe the Northern Harrier isn't even all that large when put next to a Red-tailed Hawk. But when 4.5 feet of wingspan suddenly appears from the ground, you notice, and you say, "what is that massive fuckoff bird?!"
Even with all the cool birds doing their thing around the beach, and seals hanging out in eyesight (and doing his best to be perceived as a buoy), the one stranger we talked to wanted to know "if the Snowy Owl is around today." Everyone wants to talk about owls.
I'll admit, there's something incredibly charismatic about owls, and seeing one feels very special, even if it's a common enough owl you can see in the daytime (I'm talking about you, Barred!). It's an experience that stays with you even if you don't really care about birds all that much.
But much ink has been spilled about the importance of following the Code of Birding Ethics. For too many reasons to list, annual reminders of how to view and photograph Snowys show up all over the internet, and every time there's people commenting about someone else's bad behavior around an owl.
I'd like to say I've been a perfectly ethical birder, but I've made my share of mistakes around the Barred Owls in my patch. I've gotten too close, moved too quickly, not paid enough attention to the body language. It's easy to get it wrong, but it's also easy to learn, and do better.
I don't know where I'm going with this. Just be responsible, okay? Respect nature, and maybe it won't vomit on you.
As much as I love encouraging everyone to look around at birds and sea puppers, I also want to encourage you all to eat more donuts. But, like, good donuts. Excellent donuts. It doesn't even have to be donuts. Whatever is your donut, go enjoy it.
Life has so few delights anymore.
Enjoy everything you can.
