The last few days I have been struck again by some fundamental differences between birders and photographers. In simple (and overgeneralized) terms, birders tend to be more scientific in their approach and photographers tend to be more artistic.
Most birders keep detailed records of what they see when they go out for a walk and have life lists of species they have observed. They know about the ranges of each species for each season and can often recognize a bird from its call. Any sighting of a bird “counts,” even if the bird is far away and a photo of it is tiny and blurry, though a photo is not an absolute requirement.
Many photographers like me don’t keep track of all that they see—if I am not able to get a shot of a bird that I spot, preferably a good shot, I mentally erase the sighting from my memory. I have not studied and internalized information about most bird species and therefore have trouble determining if a species is rare or common. That distinction does not really matter to me as I am generally more focused on getting a well-composed shot in decent light with an interesting pose, ideally a dynamic pose. I was therefore excited by the sequence of shots that I captured of a bald eagle taking off when I did a photowalk on Thursday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and immediately posted those images in posting on Friday morning.
I also took some shots of a small yellow bird on the icy surface of a small pond. I really did not know what it was, but suspected that it was some kind of warbler. I posted a photo on the Virginia Birding Facebook forum and asked for help. The response that I got from birders was immediate and excited—I was asked to document the sighting in eBird, an online database of bird observations with real-time data about bird distribution and abundance, and to repost the photo in the Virginia Notable Bird Sightings Facebook forum.
Why were the birders so excited? The bird, I was told, is a Nashville Warbler (Leiothlypis ruficapilla). According to the moderator of the Virginia Notable Bird Sightings forum, current records for Nashville Warblers are “very sparse on the East Coast. There are no other winter records for the species currently input to eBird at Occoquan NWR so this is quite remarkable.” Apparently this is really late in the season to see a species that should have migrated through our area quite a while ago.
As for me, I am happy with the way I was able to capture the warbler’s reflection on the ice and the natural framing of the subject by the vegetation. The fact that it is a rare sighting at this time of the year is at best of secondary importance to me.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
And I just think that it’s a pretty bird in an interesting setting.
We think alike, Michael. 🙂
🙂
As I birder I can say we’re not all into the “ticking” that you describe here, Michael. There are many different ways that birders choose to record their sightings and spend their time; and some of us stay simple, enjoy the beauty of a rare seasonal experience and a bright warbler who’s come to grace the moment. Your photos are brilliant.
Guilty as charged. I hope that I did not offend you, Jet, with my hyper exaggerated characterization of birders. I think that I may also have offended some photographers by painting us all as dreamy, creative types. One of my deep dark secrets is that I have become adept enough in identifying birds that many folks think of me as a birder. 🙂
One of the things I so appreciate about your magnificent wildlife photos, Mike, is that you identify every creature. So I appreciate your deep dark secret, and I appreciate your kind response as well. Happy birding and photographing, my friend.
WOW! I had commented yesterday on the significance of your beautiful Bald Eagle photos only to discover here today that your Nashville Warbler photo is re-posted in Virginia’s Notable Bird Sightings! Good Work! It seem there could be a certain harmony in being a birder and a wildlife photographer, the two are not mutually exclusive! As for myself, I just love seeing your lovely photos of lovely creatures! Thank-you, Mr. Mike!
I deliberately exaggerated the distinction between birders and photographers–the reality is that many birders are photographers and vice versa. At a minimum there is the kind of “harmony,” as you pointed out.
Gorgeous bird and so cute!
Thanks, Liz. The winter here is full of muted colors, so that bit of bright yellow was a wonderful surprise for me earlier this week.
Amazing how much cheer is imparted by a small splash of living colour! Wonderful.
Many birdwatchers are photographers… these are very complementary past times and a photo often helps with identification later. When you are lucky enough to spot and photograph a rare species, you are on a high with a memorable sighting! Not much actual ticking of a life list happens with me… it is more of a mental note although I do record first sightings straight into my field bird book!
I can usually tell the serious birders because they are weighed down with heavy spotting scopes, ideally Swarovski, on tripods and often supplemented with binoculars. Many of them like to carry relatively lightweight super zoom cameras to document their unusual sightings. As an alternative, some of them have adapters that let them take photos through the scopes using their cell phones. The serious photographers that I encounter have even heavier tripods with even more expensive lenses, often costing $12,000 or more. The pastimes are indeed complementary, but the objectives in taking photos may be somewhat different–many of the birders I know are content to take “record shots” of unusual species or ones they can’t immediately identify. Some photographers like me, however, really enjoy taking photos of common species over and over again, something that I rarely see birders do.
Mmm – I don’t know about the word serious linked to the expensive gear. The only thing I take seriously about my bird photography is to have fun and have a sense of wonder!
You have a good point, Chris, about my linkage of “serious” with willingness to spend lots of money on gear. I was trying to suggest that you have to be pretty dedicated to walk for extended periods of time with heavy, expensive gear, though I do know from experience that there are lots of folks who pursue their passions with equal dedication but more modest equipment. In my mind, I sort of make a distinction between birders, bird watchers, and bird photographers, with somewhat differing approaches and behaviors, though those categories are pretty fluid and definitely overlap. (I tend to put myself in the third category.)
Here’s a link to an article from the New Yorker magazine that talks a bit of the birder vs bird watcher distinction that I mentioned. One line in the article that grabbed my attention was, “Crudely put, bird-watchers look at birds; birders look for them.” https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-difference-between-bird-watching-and-birding
Congrats on your sighting and getting folks all excited about it. 😉 The common denominator is that you and they all appreciate the wonders of nature.
Interesting observation and interesting discussion. I guess I’m a bird-watcher then. I’m too lazy to be a birder (can’t distinguish between all those sparrows and warblers!) and too lazy and cheap to spend all that money on cameras and lenses and shlep them around with me! I get the most pleasure observing the birds that frequent my yard. I felt sorry for this little warbler, apparently abandoned by his friends and in a colder place than he ought to be.
I think I got into a little trouble by setting up a false dichotomy between birders and photographers, but it sure made for an interesting discussion. As for the little warbler, it probably felt very much at home in yesterday’s 72 degree temperature in the Washington D.C. area. I wonder if it is to late for it to fly south.
Exciting for birder and photographer! Win, Win!
I love your “bird sightings” Mike, and I would always be happy with “small yellow bird on the icy surface of a small pond” as a description. Still, I think it’s neat that you spied and photographed something so rare. Good job!
Thanks, Dan. The warbler is rare only because of the time of the year. If it was a few months ago, it would have been a cool sighting, but not quite so uncommon.
Interesting about birds.