[mou] ID skills retooling - confessions of a middle aged birder & erstwhile trip leader

[Pastor Al Schirmacher]

Fifteen years ago, I began as a solo birder - loved to hike since early 
years, started noticing birds (only took me 20+ years), someone gave me an 
old pair of binoculars, bought an inexpensive field guide, you know the 
story - I was hooked.

Then I learned about listservs & associations (initially Wisbirdn & WSO) and 
a whole new world opened up.  People did this together!  They helped each 
other, gathered for field trips, provided tips, gentle correction, sometimes 
a learned body slam - each step pushed me farther up and farther in.

But I picked up a bad ID habit or two along the way (probably during my solo 
time), and, frankly, would like to shed them.

First, the positives - my ear is relatively strong (some relearning each 
spring), and I tend to recognize behavior/shape/color characteristics 
easily - have decent "jizz" recognition skills.

But when it comes to documentation - when it comes to looking at the 
"component pieces", and either mentally or visually recording them for 
future recollection & recording - I struggle.  I tend to fasten on a 
characteristic or two (song or primary field mark), and miss the details 
that records committees & the like need.

Classic example:  Eurasian Wigeon that visited a local pond - I noted the 
head and crown stripe color - compared the bird to Sibley's hybrid 
pictures - but then couldn't put good enough documentation together to 
convince others - which I take responsibility for (not blaming records 
committees, they have a thankless enough important job as it is).

(This is actually reflective of a greater whole - I can remember many 
details from a marital counseling or mediation situation - but not wall 
colors in my church.)

I was asked to document a couple of county oddities recently, and realized 
that my ID of them was based on 1-2 aspects, not a composite picture.  Am I 
convinced that I correctly identified them?  Certainly!  Can I communicate 
this well to our birding community?  Probably not.  Frustrating (for them & 
me).

Feel a little like Kenn Kaufman a few years back, who confessed that he 
couldn't describe a BC Chickadee adequately.

So, some relearning and retooling is called for.  Thoughts and suggestions 
gladly welcomed.

Transparent (at least opaque) in Princeton,

Al Schirmacher
Mille Lacs & Sherburne Counties