Bird Series
In January 2011, I was invited to join a new team competing in the Carden Challenge where teams compete to identify the greatest number of bird species in a 24 hour period. My song ID skills at the time were not great so I spent the next three months studying and listening and practicing. At the time, I thought I was doing it just for the Challenge. Now I realize that those months spent learning have led to some pretty fantastic work opportunities.
I was interested in birds long before I had any clue that geocaching existed. So when it came time to place some caches, what better way to combine the two interests. How many of these birds can you identify?
Black-capped Chickadee
This cache was originally supposed to be number 2 in my For Sale or Lease series. In my memory there was a very nice chimney still standing here. When I arrived to scout out the location, I realized that there was just too little left even for the intended series. Chickadees followed me as I searched and debated with myself about using this location. The company they provided made me decide to make this stop part of the Bird Series instead.
Who doesn't know the black-capped chickadee? This perky bird is one of the most common feeder birds and is easily trained to take seeds out of your hand. This would make you think that these would be easy birds to band but I discovered this summer that these birds are miserable in the hand. The banders who were telling me this had stories of being bitten during the entire process. “Give me a hawk any day over a chickadee”, I was told.
Unlike many feeder birds, the chickadee does not just sit and gorge. Instead, it will select the best seed and then fly off to a nearby branch. Once there, it holds the seed between its feet and hammers on it to get the seed coat off. Often they will cache seeds to be eaten later. In winter, other seed-eating species will hang out with chickadees, relying on these clever little birds to find the best sources of food.
