Synchronicity? Nah.

I was sorting through some photos, re-labeling them, and learning how to file them on my new computer, when I came across this one and decided to save it on the desk top because I had a bit of an urge to report something about cranes. I took a break to get my mail, and, lo and behold, the cover of my auto club magazine had a photo of a Sandhill Crane in the Klamath Basin. My crane was in a relatively dry field off Quincy Junction Road. I saw several cranes a couple of weeks ago, but this week I've been wondering when they headed south and how far they went. The article in Via magazine by Craig Neff, was quite an interesting travelogue about following birds along the major flyways of the West. He uses the term "birders" as writers of bird articles tend to do, and I guess it's a friendly appellation that birders use on each other. I do wonder why we don't use "snakers" or "spiderers," or perhaps "arachnophiles" and "serpentophiles." "Birders" implies to me a sort of in-group/out-group orientation. It may be my imagination, but it's supported by at least one other piece of evidence. Typical field guide series, such as Peterson's, usually have a "checklist" in front so one can check off species as they are sighted. For some reason, the guides to reptiles, amphibians, and fishes do not. Does that imply a different motivation for going out to look at birds? I think so. The bird checklist has always felt to me like a coup stick, a symbol of conquest. Perhaps akin to the long-distance hiker's term, peak bagger. These cryptic comments aside, I love to watch the cranes.