The day we found the Chukar I could not stop without taking some photos of these red flowers that were scattered all along the sage brush habitat. I do not have a clue what the name is for these plants but they were some what impressive.
This is the first photo I took of my lifer Chukar. I did not spot this bird but instead one of my clients spotted the bird resting under one of the bushes on the rocky hillside. The second week we did not spot any Chukars but we did see a Black-throated Sparrow instead.
I really enjoyed guiding these field trips to Colorado. I know my route inside and out and I am some what worried about the future new owner of the OBServTours. Yep Bob is selling the company and I hope who takes over they keep me leading these trips. Bob told me not to worry because he is sure who ever the new owners will be they will keep me leading these trips. If not and the company is still in limbo then I will organize and lead a trip out here on my own. I know the route, lodging, restaurants, all the stops, people who own ranches and all the little things to run this trip. I will also do the same thing for the Manitoba/Churchill Trip. I would rather work for someone instead but maybe there is a future in leading trips to Colorado for myself. The only thing I would do different is add another day and break up some of the long driving between point A and B.
One of the most interesting conversations that came up is how most people on my trip agreed that there are some people who are really rank amateurs in the birding world but come off as "bird experts" thru their personal blogs they write numerous times per day. I know some here in my state that have blogs and thru their blogs they are on TV, radio, newspaper articles, write articles for WildBird magazine and even write books about places in Minnesota! All because they PR themselves so much the people in the media think they are "bird experts" and the idiots at Minn. Audubon even hired some of these so-called "bird experts" to be lead authors about bird finding in places like the Minnesota River Valley or along the North Shore of Minnesota! All because they have cute blogs and a bouncy go lucky personality! Of course these blog writers had records turn down by the state record committees, posted photos of birds and made huge identification errors on them (bird experts?), never found or posted anything on the listserv that is worth while to know about and also these bloggers hardly spend anytime in the field in Minnesota because they are to busy blogging about how wonderful they are as birders. To me this is really wrong and the one thing that really pisses me off about the hobby of birdwatching. I spent my entire life knowing and understanding the birds of northern Minnesota and also spent a great deal of my life in the field viewing birds and listening to birds. My reward for all that time in the field is getting hired by several out of state birders to help them find their target species. YES I admit Iam damn good at what I do and I am good at guiding because of the hard work I put into it and NOT because of some fucking blog. I did not had to sit on Ken Kaufman's lap to get noticed or hug every fucking famous author who wrote a book about birds and then photographed myself in the act of doing so!
I am tired of seeing people get labled as bird experts when they are not NOT! I am tired of seeing people get hired to write books they are not qualified to write about. All this reminds me of a very wealthy woman in SE Minnesota who some how rode along on birding trips with two other wll known birders in Minnesota. One of the guys was the MOURC chairman & hotline editor of the time and the other guy was his best friend and they accepted this woman on thier bird haunts in Minnesota. Eventually the rich woman bought one of the guys a new spotting scope! Well as time went on this woman travelled all over Minnesote with them and her list grew and then one day the birder who was the chairman of records committee in Minnesota, let this woman vote on birds submitted to MOURC even though she was not on the committee! This drew some out rage amongst some birders because she was not qualified in doing so and also these birders did not want this woman slapping her view points on thier record they submitted! Eventually she slipped back to her backyard in SE Minnesota because birders were tired of how she basically used her money to influence her position and place in the birding community!
Well I guess the answer is for me and others is to create a blog, PR the fuck out of it, kiss a lot ass at birding festivals, sit on laps of well known bird book authors and try to get gigs on local TV shows and radio and BS about birds. Also the most important thing I learn its not what you know -- its how much ass you kiss! Unfortunately I refuse to kiss ass to anyone and rather get my awards by finding my own birds and show people birds they cannot find on their own!
Yep I am in sort of pissy mood today!
Later.
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