Sightings From a Treestand

   While sitting for seemingly endless hours in the woods in a treestand, I have alot of time to do nothing but watch and think. I spend most of my time watching the birds eating the corn that I put out for the deer. I usually see around 20+ species on each hunting trip. However, last time I experienced a better array of birds than I usually do, which prompted me to write this article. No sooner did I cock my crossbow and settle in for a long evening of waiting, the birds emergeg from the dense forest undergrowth. The first that I usually see are a pair (or two) of Carolina Chickadees, about six Eastern Towhees, about four Northern Cardinals, and I usually hear (but almost never observe) Northern Flickers and Red-Bellied Woodpeckers. After a little bit of time goes by, the more shy birds begin to come out. Three to four Carolina Wrens, Mourning Doves, an occasional Tufted Titmouse, and most recently, I have been seeing a pair of Golden-Crowned Kinglets. Almost every trip I also see a Cooper's and/or Red-Tailed Hawk.

   I actually think sitting and waiting for the birds to appear is a better method of birding than just going and looking for them, because often when you travel around looking for the birds you miss species that you would otherwise see. I understand that this method isn't the easiest to do, because for unpatient birders like myself, it isn't easy to just sit and wait. Also when there seem to be no birds around, it feels like you are wasting your time. However, when I am forced into waiting on the birds to come to me (as I am while I'm hunting), I think it is a very good method because I almost always end up seeing alot of birds, and hearing many more than never show themselves. The birds that I almost always hear and never see includes Pileated Woodpeckers, Great-Horned Owls, Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers along with the previously mention Red-Bellied Woodpeckers and Northern Flickers. Thus in summary, when forced into stationary birding, it is usually has a pretty good outcome (though admittedly, there are times when I see next to no birds at all).