The Big Day

You may have heard of the movie "The Big Year". It is about three birders trying to see how many birds they can get in a year. Paul has read the book and is reading it again. Paul keeps records of all the birds he sees and how many varieties he can find each month and each year. The most he has had in a year is 414 kinds of birds. He has 583 life birds, not counting what he may have seen in Korea. He was not yet a birder in 1956 when he was there with the Army.

Our son Bill is an even more serious birder. He will go on a trip just to find a certain bird, as many birders do. This is called chasing birds. He has around 550 as the most in a year. He has 684 on his life list, not counting Iraq birds. We get to go on a lot of rides with Bill when he is with us since he goes places to see the birds. I'm glad he chose this same hobby as his Dad. He started birding when he was stationed with the Air Force in Phoenix, Arizona. He wanted to figure out good places to take us when we visited him so he needed to know where the birds are. He has since become an avid birder. He has birds from 48 states. He just hasn't been to Alaska or Hawaii.

Laura is better at seeing the birds than I am. She remembers more about more birds than I do and she enjoys birding with her brother and dad. I am not a birder but I know more than someone from a non birding family. I mainly go along for the ride and scenery. We get to go places we would not otherwise.

With Bill here from Florida for the month we are doing a lot more than we usually get to do. It would be considered a big month compared to a normal month for us. We have gone to the mountains, the desert and the beach areas. You could do all three in one day in San Diego. I guess we have not done that yet, but we have done the mountains and desert in one day on more than one occasion.

On Tuesday the 25th we enjoyed an excursion to Balboa Park in San Diego. I enjoyed taking pictures with Bill's good camera. I spent most of my time near the large fountain enjoying watching all the people go by. There were a lot of children at the park that day. There seemed to be classes of children. I know it was free for children at the zoo in October so a lot of classes were going to the zoo the day we were in the park. There seemed to be a lot more activity than on a usual week day when we were there. I took pictures of some of the activity and the historical buildings and fountain. Paul, Laura and Bill walked further than I did as it is difficult for me to walk. Eventually Paul joined me at the bench while Laura and Bill continued their walk. Usually we do more walking through the park, but it was a satisfying day for me.

Wednesday October 26, 2011 was Paul's 78th birthday and a ride was planned. We were up early and left the house when it was barely light out. The birders had a bird to see at Otay Lakes. They had looked earlier in the week and were still after it. I took advantage of the opportunity to take early morning pictures at the lake. I guess the birders didn't find the bird they were after that morning, but I'm sure Bill got it on another try. Of course they saw other birds at the lake. The fishermen were out early too. We had been there a previous day and a lot of people were picnicking that afternoon.

Next on the agenda was to head to highway 94 and go east to Potrero County Park for more birding. I was able to take some decent bird pictures while the rest of the family was birding. These were almost my first bird pictures since I never had the right camera for them before. I had taken one bird picture in Balboa Park but otherwise I haven't been able to take such pictures before. At Potrero I took pictures of Western Bluebirds and tried for other birds that were too quick for me to shoot. We also had a quick lunch since I had packed sandwiches.

I thought that was the big event of our ride, but we were just getting started. We headed east to Campo for more birding. We stopped at an old landmark barn that is now the Motor Transport Museum. This was a good photo opportunity. Lots and lots of old vehicles to take pictures of. I would recommend this spot for an auto or antique buff. There was a man working on some vehicles, but none of us really have the gift of gab so we didn't talk to him. I would like to follow Larry Himmel and get an ear full of his spirited conversation. He is one of our local favorites. He would have a story to tell if he talked to the man working on the vehicles. I took some pictures of 78 year old Paul with some of the oldies that belonged to the motor museum.

Continuing east and birding along the way we made some stops in Jacumba to look for birds. Heading east we tried to go to the desert tower, the overlook at InKoPah, but it was closed on Wednesdays. I don't know if Bill planned this or if it was a spur of the moment decision to keep going this far. Heading east on I 8 we exited the freeway at Ocotillo, next to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. This is the largest state park in California. The weather was very nice to be driving through the desert and it was a pretty day for pictures. Heading north we made stops along the way for the birders and picture taking. I wasn't the only one taking pictures as Bill has a long lens camera. He takes good bird pictures as well as other little creatures such as butterflies.

One stop was at Agua Caliente County Park where we took pictures of quails. At Vallecitos Stage Station we took pictures of roadrunners and other birds. We also made other stops while we were driving through Anza-Borrego. The sky was blue as can be with a few white fluffy clouds and that makes for nice pictures. The mountains in the background make the pictures even better. We drove through Shelter Valley which is where Rik and Faith live. Rik was one of Griff's childhood friends and we are still friends with his family. I don't know exactly where they live in Shelter Valley, but Rik's Dad lives around the block from us. Our backyards touch each other at the corners.

Next we headed west and up Banner grade towards Julian. The mountain scenery begins again. This is a favorite part of the county for us. We made a quick stop in a park in Julian and took pictures of some wild turkeys. We soon headed towards Cuyamaca enjoying the green of the trees and the rest of the landscape. We did not go all the way through Cuyamaca as we turned towards the Lagunas where our birders had birds to observe. You can see where the fires have been in our mountains as you drive through them. It is sad to see the fire damage, yet it is also part of nature as the landscape changes through the years. We still have a lot of pretty trees and other foliage.

After more birding we continued south towards the freeway. The sun was turning sunset orange as we neared the end of Sunrise Highway. We had observed the sunrise from this highway the week before. I never did get a chance to take a picture of the sunrise or sunset from this vantage point. It was getting dark as we drove into the city with all of it's traffic. We had been away from home all of the daylight hours on Paul's birthday. We had cake and ice cream waiting for us at home. This truly was a big day for the four of us.

Paul has read some other books with the same theme as "The Big Year". This is a popular subject for serious birders. Paul loves to make lists to keep track of all his birds. I know he enjoys the birds, but I sometimes think that the lists of birds seen are his favorite part of the adventure.

When Paul was a fisherman in his younger days he always kept lists of all the fish he caught. Of course he knew the weights too. His largest fish caught surf fishing in Coronado was a four pound ten ounce Spotfin Croaker. This was when he was a teenager, before we were going together. Then when we were dating we spent a lot of time on the beach while he was fishing. Our first date was at a picnic with a group of friends on the beach. We even went grunion running that evening. That was the only time I ever went grunion running, catching the tiny silver fish on the beach with bare hands. We ended up with a number of them in a bucket. Then we went to a friend's house where her mother fried them till they were crispy and yummy.

The grunion are just innocently trying to lay their eggs on the beach by the light of the moon when they are gathered up and put into a bucket. Then they end up in someones frying pan. Poor fishies. You need a fishing licence to legally do this if you are older than a certain age. I never had a fishing licence as I was young enough. Paul always had a fishing licence in those days. Fishing was his hobby then. Birding is his hobby now. At least no birds suffer for this hobby. The only shooting we do is with a camera.

We do have hunters in the family and I'm not totally adverse to this as long as it is for food. I have enjoyed meals at the table of some of the hunters in my family. I would not be able to be a hunter though. I guess a person can do whatever he has to do though. My dad who was a city boy learned to kill the chickens we raised for fryers. Mom grew up on a farm and knew how to clean them for eating. I don't think my grandparents enjoyed having to butcher the pigs for their use, but they did what they had to do. We are so protected from the realities of life, yet we eat meat. I can understand someone deciding to be a vegetarian.

When we had our boys we had said there would be no toy guns. That did not last long. They got toy guns as gifts for birthdays. And if they don't have the toy they turn a stick into a gun. The youngest son is the one that really likes guns though he is not a hunter. So much for no guns. I am still not fond of them, but will protect the right of the one who chooses to own one. I will stick to shooting with a camera. I'm sure that is the sentiment of most of our family.