Thursday 13 August 2009

You know you are a birding fanatic when you

Mick and Jim by Graham Crick

keep a bathroom bird list complete with scientific names in taxonomic order.

know some of the birds outside your country by their scientific name.

get asked about various birds first by your doctor.

visit a rain forest in a tuktuk spending 4 hours on the road to see a single bird. Twice.

feel it is perfectly okay to ask your friendly public bus driver to drive a bit slowly when going pass your favourite roadside wetland patch.

have no problem whatsoever to sit on the rain forest floor to see a ground bird that is coloured like decaying leaf litter.

always make comfort stops on jungle trails, strategically near fruiting trees.

have been bitten in all vital parts of the body by leeches while birding except in the eyes.

have no issues in standing near a stinking sewage canal with all forms of vicious biting things hovering around you to see a drab bird that doesn’t even sing.

carry your binoculars, checklists and field guides to bars & restaurants at dinner time during bird tours and feel perfectly okay about it.

are inordinately fond of garbage dumps to look for rarities.

keep a list of birds seen in your dreams.

have spent a better part of your life looking like this:

Julie and Keith

...and like this:

Keith and Amila

always prefer to buy clothes that are green, brown, grey and birdie.

have named your blog after a mythical bird that you have made up, which not many people can understand or pronounce properly.

feel like it is your duty to comment in blogs of non-birders who cannot tell a coot from a duck, whenever they post about birds.

wake up at 3.45 a.m., leave the hotel at 4.15 a.m. and reach a cold and dreary spot before crack of dawn to see a dark bird that mostly reveal in silhouette.

go on bird trips using public transport wearing binoculars, gum boots and leech socks. Oh, and a hands-free umbrella.

have nicknames and pet names from school days that are bird-related.

bump into a female bird watcher and check out her pair of binoculars first.

Okay, I may I have stretched things a wee bit here and there. But these remain largely true.

Let’s hear your contributions.

21 comments:

Redzlan aka Tabib said...

Ha,ha! (LOL). You have such a long list.
I sure can't remember all that tongue twisted scientific names, but have a habit buying cammo and green clothes.

Kirigalpoththa said...

There are some really funny ones in that list lol..

'feel like it is your duty to comment in blogs of non-birders who cannot tell a coot from a duck, whenever they post about birds.' - Thanks for doing that! Im sure im one of them :)

Erik said...

-your optics cost more than your car, furniture, or house.
-you make disapproving sounds when you visit a friends home and notice their library only contains one out of date field guide.

rainfield61 said...

I am sure I am not one of those if looking at your list, such a long list.

Anonymous said...

Wow, now I don't know what to think...Well...I know the names of only a handful of very common birds, and I don't do any of the stuff you mention in your list... but I do LOVE birds a LOT. I find them to be the luckiest and most fascinating creatures on earth. They have such unlimited freedom, the best seat in the house and 'God always feeds them...as in, birds never go hungry unlike us humans'.

Jason Bugay Reyes said...

Wahahah I like it !

Dee said...

haha good one! So is it Gul-Kissa? or Gul-Sissa? or... :S

Sunita Mohan said...

Phew! Doesn't look like I've reached the fanatic stage yet but its very, very close on a couple of points, though :D

Harshi said...

LOL no wonder you're having nick names.. and I'm sure you might be standing out among the crowds wherever you go, except in a rainforest.. =D

I may never reach that stage for sure *and I will make sure I won't!* though I'm already hooked on watching birdies around here. It's a wonderful pastime and thanks for inspiring us.. the non-birders-yet-nature-buffs. =D

And yep, that very phrase that says "duty to comment in blogs of non-birders.." I definitely know I'm one of them, who doesn't even know to differentiate a coot from duck! lol But thanks a lot for going that extra mile. =D

Kathie Brown said...

Galliccisaa, you are too funny! I don't keep lists of birds seen in my dreams but I do carry bird guides and bird lists into restaurants and I do notice birds and bird calls on commercials and in movies. I just watched an episode of Time Team America on PBS and I kept hearing a bobwhite in the background. I have not heard a bobwhite since I was a teen and I hadn't started my life list then so, my first thought was, where are they digging? I need to go there so I can get a bobwhite on my lifelist! Bobwhites have mostly disappeared from the Northeastern United States where I grew up. This program was being filmed in Illinois! Oh, and I do buy bird colored clothing. I found a shirt that I liked with a speckled pattern on it and it was my husband who pointed out that it looked like the colors and pattern of a Northern flicker! Oh dear!

Rhythmic Diaspora said...

God! those people who can't tell the difference between a Coot and a Duck!

flowergirl said...

Ha ha, good one!

I dont think I'm there as yet, but my son thinks I'm bad enough as it is!!

oldcrow61 said...

Ha, ha, that's so funny and no doubt all true!

Java Jones said...

Some of those pet-names/nick-names should be interesting!

Amila Salgado said...

Hi Tabib,
I’ve seen you in those cammo clothes – you look like fanatic!

Hi K,
No worries! I do it with pleasure.

Hi Erik,
I like them both! Good to hear from another birding fanatic!

Hi rainfield,
It takes a while to reach this enlightened stage.

Hi mommythecook,
Good to hear from you!
You really can enjoy birds without going into pains.
And there is lot to admire in Common garden birds.
Happy bird watching!

Hi Horukuru,
I know why you laugh aloud, you birding fanatic!

Hi Dee,
There are several ways you can do it. One I prefer is ‘Gal’ –with 'a' sounding like ‘can’, li like ‘me’ and Cissa like ‘Kiss – aa’

BTW, it was made combining the generic names (first part of the scientific name) of the two main birds, SL Junglefowl and SL Blue Magpie used in my logo. So, Gallus – the plural of which is Galli and Cissa (the older generic name of SL Blue Magpie before it became Urocissa) were fused to make it.

Geez, I cannot understand why so many people cannot understand this!

Hi Sunita,
Like doing birding trips in tuktuks, keeping peculiar lists and generally looking up I suppose.

Hi Harumi,
Kandyan villages are rich in birdlife – perfect for a budding bird watcher like you. Take it easy and enjoy birds the way that fits you.

Always, happy to be of help.

Hi Kathie,
Gosh! You really are a birding fanatic! I looked up bobwhite in my e-field guide and listened to its peculiar call. It looks nice but I like your Gambel’s quail better. You in your Northern Flicker plumage should be interesting!

Hi RD,
I know! I happen to come across one recently.

Hi flowergirl,
Take the middle-path. And don’t listen to your son too much!

Hi OC,
I left out some that were too embarrassing to mention.

Hi Java,
Bulbul is a more decent one that I can think of.

I was christened as such by some ungrateful members of the school’s nature club after I showed them a Yellow-eared Bulbul at Horton Plains in 1991.

mboi said...

when i first came across your blog i thought 'gallicissa'' was maybe you lived in Galkissa.

GG said...

:)
Thanks for the laughs! Brightened up my gloomy laboratory!

Crafty Green Poet said...

excellent list, very entertaining...

Amila Salgado said...

Hi mboi,
haha...I can understand why!

Hi Sasani,
Long time no see..and lovely to her that! I bet you must be up to you neck with you PhD work.

Hi CGP,
Thanks! Pleased to hear from you.

Unknown said...

Good one! We do some of those things but certainly not all!

Amila Salgado said...

Hi Chandanie,
Look forward to hearing what they are when I meet you and Lahiru soon!

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