Keeping Wildlife Watching Exciting

It is hard to imagine that seeing a Northern Cardinal could ever be anything but awesome. Sadly, the old saying, familiarity breeds contempt, is true unless we look for other things to appreciate about them.

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Oblivious to the spines, a pair of cactus wrens busied themselves with making a nest in the fork of a cholla cactus in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument’s Alamo Canyon. Cactus wrens were still relatively new to us and we enjoyed the show. A woman and her husband, obviously serious birders judging by their dress and expensive binoculars, stopped to talk.

“What have you seen?” she asked. We gushed on about the wrens, pyrrhuloxias, cardinals, black-tailed gnatcatchers, phainopeplas, Gila woodpeckers and Gambel’s quail along the trail. “I am from Arizona,” she stated matter-of-factly. “Those are my backyard birds. I’m here to see a crested caracara.” It was as if we had just spotted an elusive house sparrow or starling—our finds didn’t even evoke a, “Nice!”

I was disappointed several weeks later to find myself in the same situation. By now, cardinals, Gila woodpeckers, ladder-backed woodpeckers, Anna’s hummingbirds and more—had became passé, just another cardinal or just another Gila woodpecker. They were almost an annoyance in our quest for new or rarely seen species. Like the woman in Alamo Canyon, we wanted to see a crested caracara, a vermilion flycatcher, an elegant trogon or a violet-crowned hummingbird. We accomplished all of that and when we did, the excitement of a new species (the very first time I saw a male cardinal I nearly wrecked my truck) began to fade.

My wife is better in the excitement department than I am. Once she grabbed her binoculars and began describing a sparrow-like bird with a beautiful black eye-mask and throat, chestnut back and pale cheeks. It was like sticking a needle in a balloon when I suggested that she was describing a male house sparrow.

Why? Knowing it was a house sparrow didn’t change how striking it was. Despite their commonness and a few poor habits, house sparrows are handsome birds and their behavior can be fascinating.

I now realize that there needs to be more to birdwatching, or wildlife observation in general, than just a species count. Maintaining an interest in species goes well beyond simple identification. The key to never saying, “Oh, just another cardinal,” is in learning all you can about each species.

For me, there is great enjoyment in learning about a behavior and then actually observing that behavior in the field. Recently, we spotted a black-tailed gnatcatcher. We read about its habits on our birding app. The app mentioned that, at times, the black-tailed gnatcatcher mimics the call of the black-throated sparrow. When a black-throated sparrow sang out a minute later, we were sure we witnessed the black-tailed gnatcatcher reply in similar voice. That was really cool.

Learning bird songs is another excellent way to rekindle excitement about even the most common backyard birds. Most birds have unique songs and calls and being able to identify them can be an invaluable help in locating them and boost your enjoyment many times over. Birders working on a Big Year (trying to see as many species as possible in one year) can count birds they hear but don’t see. I have posted a recommended list of birds to start with (provided by a birder friend) on my website, www.nature-track.com.

It doesn’t take much imagination to stretch this into a life lesson. So often, even important things such as relationships, stale with increasing familiarity. Finding ways to maintain a fresh look on life should be job one. If you care to share how you do that, I would love to hear from you on my website.

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Donate part of your tax return to support wildlife in Idaho!

On the second page of the Idaho Individual Tax form 40 you have the opportunity to donate to the “Nongame Wildlife Conservation Fund”.

Check-off this box on your next return or ask your tax preparer to mark the Nongame check-off on your behalf. You can donate any amount you wish, it all helps to support the wildlife you love.

If you are not from Idaho, check with your own state wildlife agency about how you can help. Many states have a similar program.

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Help Idaho Wildlife

When we traveled across the state in October 2017, most of the vehicles we saw using the wildlife management areas did not have wildlife plates. Buying wildlife plates is a great way for non-hunters and hunters alike to support wildlife-based recreation like birding.

C'mon folks, let's help Idaho's wildlife by proudly buying and displaying a wildlife license plate on each of our vehicles! 

See below for information on Idaho plates. Most states have wildlife plates so if you live outside Idaho, check with your state's wildlife department or vehicle licensing division for availability of state wildlife plates where you live. 

And tell them that you heard about it from Nature-track.com!

Wildlife License Plates

Idaho Wildlife license plates provide essential funding that benefits the great diversity of native plants and wildlife that are not hunted, fished or trapped—over 10,000 species or 98% of Idaho’s species diversity. Game species that share the same habitats (such as elk, deer, antelope, sage-grouse, salmon, trout) also benefit from these specialty plates.

No state tax dollars are provided for wildlife diversity, conservation education and recreation programs. Neither are any revenues from the sale of hunting or fishing licenses spent on nongame species. Instead, these species depend on direct donations, federal grants, fundraising initiatives—and the Idaho Wildlife license plates.

Both my vehicles have Bluebird Plates. I prefer the bluebird because the nongame program gets 70 percent of the money from bluebird plates, but only 60 percent of the money from elk and trout plates - 10 percent of the money from elk plates supports wildlife disease monitoring and testing programs (to benefit the livestock industry) and 10 percent from cutthroat plates supports non-motorized boat access.

Incidentally, in 2014, the Idaho Legislature denied the Department of Fish and Game the ability to add new plates or even to change the name of the elk and cutthroat plates (very specific) to wildlife and fish plates, a move that would have allowed for changing images occasionally and generating more revenue. It would seem that they believe that we Idahoans don't want a well funded wildlife program.

I think it is time we let the Legislature know that Idahoan support wildlife funding and that we would like to see these generic plates come to fruition.