We live in the woods and have fairly new Ukrainian neighbors as well who are delighting in our wide variety of woodland creatures. Talking with them has definitely shifted my perspective about appreciating the common wildlife.
This is such a great point and not to be underestimated: "There is also calmness in observing a common bird or catching a common fish, knowing it isn’t once-in-a-lifetime. My mind isn’t frantic when I watch a Red-tailed Hawk; I know I’ll see one again, maybe that day." Thank you for the mention as well, James - much appreciated.
Thanks Neil! When you think of each encounter strictly as time spent with a bird, when you see a rarity every second is supremely important. If you get two minutes that might be all you get in a lifetime. With a bird you know you’ll see again you can be calm, mine each moment to find unique significance—again and again and again
Great post and wonderful images as always (especially the black capped chickadee near the end! That must have been such a special moment!). I loved the emphasis on how common species induce that calmness and a deeper level of appreciation and knowledge of their behaviour. The way you described that panic mode when seeing something rare cracked me up- that’s how I’ve felt the few times I’ve seen kestrels here. I once saw a harpy eagle in Guyana but that was before I got a camera, funnily enough because all I could do was sit in a boat from a distance and appreciate it, that moment has stuck with me more than some the times I’ve desperately tried to get a picture of something rare. I guess there’s a time and place for everything, and like you said some moments are better when kept for ourselves.
Thank you Amaranta. A Harpy Eagle encounter is amazing with or without photos. Definitely a “holy shit” x4 moment with a camera, I’m glad you were able to fully luxuriate in sharing space with the bird without worrying about getting pictures.
Every moment with a chickadee is a special moment, I’m glad you like the photo. I have a surprising dearth of chickadee photos because i don’t feel pressure to document a bird i so often see!
I actually help rescue waterfowl. Mostly mallard and mallard hybrids. I also have lots of time invested in birds in the spring. I know what you mean by "common" but to me...every bird is the most underrated animal on this earth. Mallards are not only smart.. they are HILARIOUS 😂! My husband before we were married thought I was crazy for spending as much time w/them as I did...now he goes daily after work and can't wait to tell me who did what today lol. The nuthatch...omg the most loving fledglings on this planet. She was found on a busy road on my way to work one morning. Needless to say I was very late that day. A birds life is worth me getting in trouble at work for (but I didn't bc my mgr knew me and said "who'd you find in trouble this morning?"). I had to name her "velcro" bc she was so attached to me. I couldn't walk by her without taking her out or doing some type of enrichment with her. By the last wk I had her she already started stashing her seeds like they do in the wild. I'd go to cover her at night and all these little seeds would fall out of the corners of the sheet. It was adorable but fascinating that a bird that age, with no bird mom would just know to do that. They're all AMAZING! I watch the mallards outsmart the hawks and it blows my mind. The females sound the alarm and they work as a complete unit to confuse him. Knock on wood... but he has not ever got one of our "friends" yet. We even for the past 3 yrs had an American Widgeon (Priss Missy) come to winter with the mallards. She was tiny but mighty! She did her thing, put those males in their place and nobody messed with her! This year we are still waiting to see if it will be a 4th winter. We now have a new "person", a green winged teal! He is TINY!!! TALK ABOUT CUTE! I named him "Lil Finley". He looks like a lil Irish dude. Birds are all a blessing and I pray that everyone realizes this before it is to late and we lose more. Your pictures are gorgeous! Ty for all you share!
Thank you for the work you do rescuing waterfowl! The fact you are able to recognize the personalities of the birds shows how familiar you are with them. Nuthatch is indeed a very precious bird. It sounds like you were of great, necessary help to "velcro." Green-winged Teal are among my favorite ducks. Thank you for sharing your bird stories!
I am terrible at remembering the species names of birds and trees - wish I had your grasp - but I just loved this post. It really reminds you to stay present. I have a bathroom window that faces a rock wall and some trees. If I stand there for even a minute, I can usually see at least five different creatures. Although they are usually common species, I find it so special how accessible and abundant they are. Thanks for reminding us about this.
Thank you so much, Amy. Your point to "stay present" is apt. Appreciating a common creature requires enough presence to be able to find things to appreciate about it beyond mere novelty.
And ahhhh.. some of my favorites are the little common birds : sweet little chickadees who politely wait until all the frantic finches are done feeding to approach my feeders. The nuthatches, titmouse and chickadees are my most delightful ones to watch. Perhaps I love them so much just because they are so common that people often overlook them.
I get excited when I see ANY bird. But I'm also guilty of being 'overwhelmed with a repeating chorus of holy shit, get a picture, holy shit, better picture, holy shit.' Great article James!
Beautiful photos, James. I also enjoy watching more common birds. I appreciate the song of American Robins, and seeing their triple-hop steps all year long. Blue jays, nuthatches, mockingbirds, Cardinals... I once saw over two dozen Northern Cardinals while biking ten miles at Harper's Ferry, and I never tired of it. How could I?
I'm learning to appreciate ducks more. Your mallard photo is stunning. I can watch Buffleheads dive and pop up all day. Shovelers, too. I got a treat of seeing a few distant wood ducks the other morning, when I was looking at mallards, and I wouldn't have seen them otherwise.
I don't fish anymore, but I always liked bluegills. They're dependable.
Thank you Thomas. Even noting the triple hop step of a robin is an example of something gained via familiarity! Shovelers and Wood Ducks are special to see, and so are Mallards—so it sounds like your waterfowl season is off to a great start. Dependable is a perfect way to describe bluegill. Always appreciate you reading
"Just a Common Eider" made me pause, having spent most of my life in the midwest. A couple of years ago I was walking the Marginal Way in Ogunquit, Maine, not even birding at the time, and I saw a flock of them on an outcropping of rock. Just a lifer.
Thank you Nathaniel, and that gets right to the heart of the piece. What is “just” to one birder is a lifer to another. So even when a bird is “just,” take the time to appreciate what makes it what it is. With eider, I have seen so many (and keep seeing them in pursuit of another King Eider which I’ve been lucky to see), but always pause to appreciate their unique profile. Nothing else quite like it. Sidenote: Ogunquit is great for birds!
Thank you, James. Always happy to be here. I’ve spent the week researching food webs for the Oregon Naturalist coursework. I focused on Great Blue Herons, so was especially interested in how you set up your photo essay with the fish.
Beautiful essay, it's so important to enjoy the common birds and get to know them like friends. As I'm in the UK, most of the birds you name as your common birds would be new and exciting to me if I ever saw them (except for Mallards, plenty of those around here, but I always love seeing them!).
I'm reminded of the photo I saw of a huge crowd of birdwatchers in China who had gathered to see a Eurasian Robin, very common in the UK, but obviously never seen in China.
Thank you Juliet. That group of birdwatchers in China excited about a Eurasian Robin serve as a good example: When seeing something common, it’s still good to take the approach you’d take if it were uncommon—and it’ll reveal other little idiosyncrasies about each individual bird, allow you to get to know each one in a different way. And what is common to one is uncommon to another. I might see a Black-capped Chickadee each day, but if one was in your part of the world that’d be cause for excitement!
Mallards are admirable in their universality. Maybe this is just my pro-duck bias but I can’t imagine anyone disliking a Mallard!
James, All the "common" birds are my favorites. They are the one I count on to be in my yard, to see on my walks, to swoop and swoon overhead and bring me common joy. I loved reading this and really enjoyed your photos. The fish are so colorful, and they were a treat. Also many thanks for the mention.
Coming from Australia, all of these birds are exotic to me! Well, other than the ducks, although they do look a little different. It makes me think about our black swans and how I always thought that was the normal type of swan until I heard reference to 'black swan theory' one day and got confused. It's all perspective, hey.
What is common or normal to one, is uncommon or abnormal to another! Swans are different for each of us. The person a bird is "common" to can still take the perspective to find uncommon things about each one. Thank you for reading, Lauren.
A Ukrainian family lived with us for a while. They were excited by squirrels and chipmunks. It was fun to see our woods through their eyes.
We live in the woods and have fairly new Ukrainian neighbors as well who are delighting in our wide variety of woodland creatures. Talking with them has definitely shifted my perspective about appreciating the common wildlife.
This is such a great point and not to be underestimated: "There is also calmness in observing a common bird or catching a common fish, knowing it isn’t once-in-a-lifetime. My mind isn’t frantic when I watch a Red-tailed Hawk; I know I’ll see one again, maybe that day." Thank you for the mention as well, James - much appreciated.
Thanks Neil! When you think of each encounter strictly as time spent with a bird, when you see a rarity every second is supremely important. If you get two minutes that might be all you get in a lifetime. With a bird you know you’ll see again you can be calm, mine each moment to find unique significance—again and again and again
Great post and wonderful images as always (especially the black capped chickadee near the end! That must have been such a special moment!). I loved the emphasis on how common species induce that calmness and a deeper level of appreciation and knowledge of their behaviour. The way you described that panic mode when seeing something rare cracked me up- that’s how I’ve felt the few times I’ve seen kestrels here. I once saw a harpy eagle in Guyana but that was before I got a camera, funnily enough because all I could do was sit in a boat from a distance and appreciate it, that moment has stuck with me more than some the times I’ve desperately tried to get a picture of something rare. I guess there’s a time and place for everything, and like you said some moments are better when kept for ourselves.
Thank you Amaranta. A Harpy Eagle encounter is amazing with or without photos. Definitely a “holy shit” x4 moment with a camera, I’m glad you were able to fully luxuriate in sharing space with the bird without worrying about getting pictures.
Every moment with a chickadee is a special moment, I’m glad you like the photo. I have a surprising dearth of chickadee photos because i don’t feel pressure to document a bird i so often see!
I actually help rescue waterfowl. Mostly mallard and mallard hybrids. I also have lots of time invested in birds in the spring. I know what you mean by "common" but to me...every bird is the most underrated animal on this earth. Mallards are not only smart.. they are HILARIOUS 😂! My husband before we were married thought I was crazy for spending as much time w/them as I did...now he goes daily after work and can't wait to tell me who did what today lol. The nuthatch...omg the most loving fledglings on this planet. She was found on a busy road on my way to work one morning. Needless to say I was very late that day. A birds life is worth me getting in trouble at work for (but I didn't bc my mgr knew me and said "who'd you find in trouble this morning?"). I had to name her "velcro" bc she was so attached to me. I couldn't walk by her without taking her out or doing some type of enrichment with her. By the last wk I had her she already started stashing her seeds like they do in the wild. I'd go to cover her at night and all these little seeds would fall out of the corners of the sheet. It was adorable but fascinating that a bird that age, with no bird mom would just know to do that. They're all AMAZING! I watch the mallards outsmart the hawks and it blows my mind. The females sound the alarm and they work as a complete unit to confuse him. Knock on wood... but he has not ever got one of our "friends" yet. We even for the past 3 yrs had an American Widgeon (Priss Missy) come to winter with the mallards. She was tiny but mighty! She did her thing, put those males in their place and nobody messed with her! This year we are still waiting to see if it will be a 4th winter. We now have a new "person", a green winged teal! He is TINY!!! TALK ABOUT CUTE! I named him "Lil Finley". He looks like a lil Irish dude. Birds are all a blessing and I pray that everyone realizes this before it is to late and we lose more. Your pictures are gorgeous! Ty for all you share!
Thank you for the work you do rescuing waterfowl! The fact you are able to recognize the personalities of the birds shows how familiar you are with them. Nuthatch is indeed a very precious bird. It sounds like you were of great, necessary help to "velcro." Green-winged Teal are among my favorite ducks. Thank you for sharing your bird stories!
I am terrible at remembering the species names of birds and trees - wish I had your grasp - but I just loved this post. It really reminds you to stay present. I have a bathroom window that faces a rock wall and some trees. If I stand there for even a minute, I can usually see at least five different creatures. Although they are usually common species, I find it so special how accessible and abundant they are. Thanks for reminding us about this.
Thank you so much, Amy. Your point to "stay present" is apt. Appreciating a common creature requires enough presence to be able to find things to appreciate about it beyond mere novelty.
Love the photo of you at the end!
And ahhhh.. some of my favorites are the little common birds : sweet little chickadees who politely wait until all the frantic finches are done feeding to approach my feeders. The nuthatches, titmouse and chickadees are my most delightful ones to watch. Perhaps I love them so much just because they are so common that people often overlook them.
Thank you Teyani. Taking the effort to better appreciate common birds does make them feel kind of like your own private pleasure
I get excited when I see ANY bird. But I'm also guilty of being 'overwhelmed with a repeating chorus of holy shit, get a picture, holy shit, better picture, holy shit.' Great article James!
Thank you Sandra! I’m glad that part resonated
Beautiful photos, James. I also enjoy watching more common birds. I appreciate the song of American Robins, and seeing their triple-hop steps all year long. Blue jays, nuthatches, mockingbirds, Cardinals... I once saw over two dozen Northern Cardinals while biking ten miles at Harper's Ferry, and I never tired of it. How could I?
I'm learning to appreciate ducks more. Your mallard photo is stunning. I can watch Buffleheads dive and pop up all day. Shovelers, too. I got a treat of seeing a few distant wood ducks the other morning, when I was looking at mallards, and I wouldn't have seen them otherwise.
I don't fish anymore, but I always liked bluegills. They're dependable.
Thank you Thomas. Even noting the triple hop step of a robin is an example of something gained via familiarity! Shovelers and Wood Ducks are special to see, and so are Mallards—so it sounds like your waterfowl season is off to a great start. Dependable is a perfect way to describe bluegill. Always appreciate you reading
"Just a Common Eider" made me pause, having spent most of my life in the midwest. A couple of years ago I was walking the Marginal Way in Ogunquit, Maine, not even birding at the time, and I saw a flock of them on an outcropping of rock. Just a lifer.
Nice post, as usual!
Thank you Nathaniel, and that gets right to the heart of the piece. What is “just” to one birder is a lifer to another. So even when a bird is “just,” take the time to appreciate what makes it what it is. With eider, I have seen so many (and keep seeing them in pursuit of another King Eider which I’ve been lucky to see), but always pause to appreciate their unique profile. Nothing else quite like it. Sidenote: Ogunquit is great for birds!
Beautiful and thoughtful post, James. I’m trying to catch up and your photo article is the perfect place to start.
Thank you so much, Heidi! Always happy to see you here in the comments.
Thank you, James. Always happy to be here. I’ve spent the week researching food webs for the Oregon Naturalist coursework. I focused on Great Blue Herons, so was especially interested in how you set up your photo essay with the fish.
I appreciate the common birds because they’re so familiar. Thank you for sharing. 🙏
Thank you for your comment!
Love fly fishing for bluegill!! They are in my pond and way more fun to fish than the bass, which feels like dragging in rope 😂
Bass are so overrated. Between bluegill in your pond and brookies not far away, you have an enviable angling spot setup!
Beautiful essay, it's so important to enjoy the common birds and get to know them like friends. As I'm in the UK, most of the birds you name as your common birds would be new and exciting to me if I ever saw them (except for Mallards, plenty of those around here, but I always love seeing them!).
I'm reminded of the photo I saw of a huge crowd of birdwatchers in China who had gathered to see a Eurasian Robin, very common in the UK, but obviously never seen in China.
Thank you Juliet. That group of birdwatchers in China excited about a Eurasian Robin serve as a good example: When seeing something common, it’s still good to take the approach you’d take if it were uncommon—and it’ll reveal other little idiosyncrasies about each individual bird, allow you to get to know each one in a different way. And what is common to one is uncommon to another. I might see a Black-capped Chickadee each day, but if one was in your part of the world that’d be cause for excitement!
Mallards are admirable in their universality. Maybe this is just my pro-duck bias but I can’t imagine anyone disliking a Mallard!
Beautiful image of the Mallard!
Thank you, Shital!
James, All the "common" birds are my favorites. They are the one I count on to be in my yard, to see on my walks, to swoop and swoon overhead and bring me common joy. I loved reading this and really enjoyed your photos. The fish are so colorful, and they were a treat. Also many thanks for the mention.
Thank you, Pamela. By becoming pillars in the lives of those who notice them, common birds earn adoration. Very glad you enjoyed this essay.
Coming from Australia, all of these birds are exotic to me! Well, other than the ducks, although they do look a little different. It makes me think about our black swans and how I always thought that was the normal type of swan until I heard reference to 'black swan theory' one day and got confused. It's all perspective, hey.
What is common or normal to one, is uncommon or abnormal to another! Swans are different for each of us. The person a bird is "common" to can still take the perspective to find uncommon things about each one. Thank you for reading, Lauren.