Bramble Ramblings

This is the first Bramble Ramble...in true Charles Kuralt fashion. There are a lot of great birding blogs out there on the web that really get into the art of birding, identify rare birds and take bird blogging to a new level. I like to think this blog will be at a more 'casual' level....rambling the brambles and see what is out there.

For instance...sometimes I am not  technically 'rambling' in the true verb sense as I might be at Forsythe birding from the car so I might be 'carring'.  or I am rambling (sitting) from my living room viewing the activity at the  bird feeder. None the less, the blog remains a ramble in the brambles. And the brambles themselves are not really brambles, unless I venture to Central Park so around south Jersey, it might be a path, or Hawk Watch platform etc. I travel a lot so the ramble might be outside of Jersey, so ....be aware.

Now bird watching is not always about watching but also about 'finding'. I have seen many Vermilian Flycatchers in SE US or in South America but have not seen one here in Jersey. So when recently found in Cape May I decided to venture down the parkway and 'find' the Flycatcher. I was unsuccessful. Actually I am unsuccessful countless times, such as not 'finding'  the Western Kingbird on several attempts to Cox Creek or being 'successful' at 'not finding' the Loggerhead Shrike on 3 occasions to  Tuckahoe Refuge or even attempting to find the large white blob of an American Pelican at Forsythe. I attempted to find that over a few car rambling trips. How a large white bird can blend so well hidden in the blue water amazes me. Lucklily I did 'find' the Whiskered Term in Cape May a few weeks ago but took little birding pride in doing so since it was about as difficult to find as it is to find the spoon in my oatmeal as I eat and ramble on this blog.

Now...the Clay Sparrow...ah....could I find that Sparrow which was ID'd and seen at Forsythe near Jen's trail as well as the turn-off to Gull's pond? Well, I am not too sure but I rambled around outside of the car with my mid-sized 400 lens (as opposed to the 500-600 lens which needs a car in itself to ramble with) and took a few shots of what looked like a Clay colored sparrow (see home page slide show). So I actually might have found one bird I was attempting to find that I set out to find (unlike the Whiskered Term which required no real finding in the true sense of the word, more like existing, bunking up at Bunker Pond, permanent obvious resident etc).

Okay...enough bramble ramblings.....this is the first blog and it best to quit while your attention is still perked for more. Happy birding all...