Just like your first "love" - you'll always remember...
...the very first of any bird species seen first-hand; where you were, where "it" (they) were, what the weather was like, what you heard, how you felt inside, perhaps even what you were wearing...(no...then again probably not if you are male)
Each time you see a different bird for the initial time, an indelible imprint is left on your brain. For instance I can remember the first time I saw a bird that more or less defined me as a "birder." My family and I were camping in the Colorado Rockies alongside a rushing river. I went down to merely look at the water crashing through the large boulders along the banks. It had rained heavily earlier and the river had swollen, carrying large chunks of debris along with it. I was standing on the bank safely above the torrent when a small movement at water's edge caught my eye. Impossibly a small dark bird was jumping off a rock repeatedly, directly into the strong current, swimming under the water for a bit and then re-emerging for yet another unlikely session. When on the rock, in between its suicidal swimming sorties, its backside would bob up and down endlessly. I was so taken with this extraordinary animal that I researched it as soon as I could. I had just witnessed my "first" American Dipper. - Truly a memorable animal (and life-altering) moment for me.
...the very first of any bird species seen first-hand; where you were, where "it" (they) were, what the weather was like, what you heard, how you felt inside, perhaps even what you were wearing...(no...then again probably not if you are male)
Each time you see a different bird for the initial time, an indelible imprint is left on your brain. For instance I can remember the first time I saw a bird that more or less defined me as a "birder." My family and I were camping in the Colorado Rockies alongside a rushing river. I went down to merely look at the water crashing through the large boulders along the banks. It had rained heavily earlier and the river had swollen, carrying large chunks of debris along with it. I was standing on the bank safely above the torrent when a small movement at water's edge caught my eye. Impossibly a small dark bird was jumping off a rock repeatedly, directly into the strong current, swimming under the water for a bit and then re-emerging for yet another unlikely session. When on the rock, in between its suicidal swimming sorties, its backside would bob up and down endlessly. I was so taken with this extraordinary animal that I researched it as soon as I could. I had just witnessed my "first" American Dipper. - Truly a memorable animal (and life-altering) moment for me.
You may think I am kidding, in that how could the memories of a first love interest compare with seeing a dumb bird for the first time. Well kidding I'm not, and "explain" it I cannot; I just "know" that it happens. Perhaps its all the senses working in harmony when discovering a new species that combine just as in that moment when you decide that he or she is "the one" to have stolen your heart for the very first time. All I can tell you is that I have spoken with many birders out there who can give you the nearly exact moment verbatim, of a personal encounter with a Scarlet Tanager, Western Bluebird, Pied-billed Grebe, or magnificently soaring Red-tailed Hawk as if they were watching a favorite rerun on TV that only they can see. Think back to the special someone in your own life and the moment of that first hand-hold, embrace or kiss...it's like that people...just like that; forever burned into your head with Technicolor and Dolby. In fact, just start telling one birding enthusiast about your first whatever, and be prepared to engage in a veritable marathon down memory lane.
So get out there and open your eyes (and all your other senses) and truly "see" for a change...the "remembering" part will take care of itself. You'll thank me when those special memories of all your "firsts" come flowing back; just like a scenic Colorado River.
My "first" Common Redpoll at our Milwaukee home.
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