Wildlife photographers and bird watchers alike almost never turn down an opportunity to sightsee and capture beautiful birds. They have a passion for it, and sometimes, they are even willing to pay the extra cost (and suffer the additional inconvenience) of getting close enough to the birds they want to see.
That being said, bird watching, or birding, is an increasingly popular hobby in many populated areas all over the world. Many people, particularly those who love going on nature trails, take up bird watching as a relaxing past-time, and it can also be a challenging sport for those who take it up seriously.
Bird watching is somewhat a similar hobby to wildlife photography, but amateur ones like to dip their feet on the former before going into the latter. But in both cases, you need to make the devotion and time to be able to spend hours on end sitting looking at nature or in this case, even waiting under the drizzling rain.
A group of watchers arrived and waited since dawn at the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park to catch a flash of vibrant colors—specifically, a male Painted Bunting. They are birds that come in the most beautiful color combination of blue, green, yellow, and red, and it looks like something out of an animated Disney film.
As soon as the gates were opened, bird watchers went into the rocks and bushes around the park on the Maryland side of Great Falls to catch a sight of a certain bird that looks fascinatingly magical.
Even under the rain and near-freezing temperature, the bird watchers patiently waited for a male painted bunting with binoculars and cameras hanging around their bodies. They were in the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park.
“There. There it is,” a woman said.
“Are you kidding me?” said Carla Morris, who staring at the hillside, awestruck as she sees the colorful bird.
“He’s perched. Now he went to the right. And I lost him,” said 82-year-old Frank Witebsky, a retired pathologist from Silver Spring, as he looks into his binoculars.
They were watching a male painted bunting, a bird that takes pride on its beautiful rainbow color.
This bird is commonly seen in Florida as well as some parts in Southern States, but it is rarely seen in Maryland—which explains the people’s fascination here. The reason for it being so far north is quite unknown, but it’s possible that it is caused by climate change, making birds shift to further north when it is already winter and they are in breeding season.
The rare sighting along the Potomac River was featured on the eBird initially, but as word spread on social media, bird watchers across the regions swarmed the park, hoping to get lucky and see the bird.
On one Saturday, there were over 1,100 people that went into the park—twice the usual number of the people seen here on a usual day in winter.
By 3 PM, there were still more than 80 cars waiting to get in, even when the park is already set to close in a few hours! When the temperature fell the next day and the rain set, even the most faithful bird watchers returned.
More than a hundred people returned to visit the park, mostly because of the male painted bunting.
One particular by the name of Jacques Pitteloud has been an avid bird watcher for most of his life. He is 58 years old.
He has already visited countries around the world, watching and photographing birds. Some of his works are even featured in publications in South Africa and Kenya.
He said that he had always hoped to catch sight of a painted bunting one day. “To see it close to D.C., that was absolutely unrealistic,” he said.
Good thing he was able to capture this one after a fellow bird watcher pointed the little creature out! At around 8:30 AM, Jacques was able to take a quick shot when the bird stayed long enough for him to capture it on camera.
“It was exceptional,” he said.
When he walked out of the park, a woman with two children asked him if he saw the bird, so he showed them the pictures he took.
“Oh, my gosh,” she said. “So cool.”
Down the path, more bird watchers were lined up along the canal, searching the trees, bushes, and the hillsides for the bird.
The bunting usually forages in overgrown fields and shrubby areas. It stayed low hidden behind grasses and trees.
However, a certain Morris was still being hopeful to catch a glimpse.
“I live for this,” she said. “I wish I’d brought my kids out here today.”
She first saw a painted bunting in Florida years ago, while she was on a vacation with her family.
They drove for over and a half just to see the bird from afar.
“They look like a splash of tempera paints splashed all over a canvas,” she said.
But that was in its natural habitat at that time. She never could have imagined the she would actually get the chance to see that’s so near to her home. “In the winter, are you kidding?” she said.
This was definitely a moment she needed to see, since she had spent her holidays grieving the death of her father who died of COVID-19 in Wisconsin. She spent the New Year’s weeping as she watched the ball drop in Times Square, listening to a Pentatonix performance on her TV with her children.
This brief and unexpected flash of beauty, after a time of so much sorrow, “It’s just magical,” she said. “It’s a magical way to start the new year.”
A few distance away, couple Vickie and Benson Kwong were in for their second day visit in the park.
The crowd when they first visited was so large that they had a hard time parking, so they returned the next day, hoping to see the bird that everyone has been raving on about in social media.
Vickie has been a bird watcher for years in Europe, Florida, and in Central and South America.
When the pandemic started, she resorted to watching birds in her own neighborhood. “This has been what’s keeping me sane,” she said.
Her husband, Benson, have also become invested in the past months, describing it as a real-life version of “Pokémon Go” to their kids. The couple looks for updates at eBird every day.
They would drive to parks that are hours away from home, hoping to see a new bird. They even have a book for the photos they take!
“We go bird crazy,” Vickie Kwong said.
When they found out about a painted bunting just minutes away from home, they immediately made plans to see it.
“That would make my year,” she said.
It’s really amazing to see how all these people love to see birds and connect with nature while they are at it. It really goes to say that nature is truly beautiful, and sometimes, we don’t have to travel long distances just to see all the amazing things it has to offer, because they may just be around the corner!
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