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Avian Bird Flu Taking the Sport Out of Bird Watching
At first, Stella Anderson could not believe her eyes.
"I was on my favorite trail, enjoying a Twinkie, and had just come around the corner," said the Muncie, Indiana resident, "when I saw it. The rare Yellow Throated Warbler. Sitting right in the middle of the trail."
Trained by years of bird watching, Anderson's instincts took over. She immediately launched her 300-pound frame into the nearest thicket to hide. When she looked back, she was shocked to see the bird had not moved.
"I was stunned. The Warbler is known for its elusiveness, and it was still sitting there," she explained. "What's more, I'd dropped my Twinkie."
Stella would soon learn the rare Warbler was dead, a victim of Avian Bird Flu. This would be a bittersweet discovery for a woman whose love of birding is exceeded only by her love of cream-filled snacks.
Indeed, "birders" around the world are finding that Avian Bird Flu is making their sport a bit simpler.
"Long-standing bird-spotting records are being broken almost daily," said Hal Kemper, head of the U.S. Bird Watching Group. "Birders are leaving their binoculars at home, and bringing a trash bag. It's a strange evolution for the sport."
Arnie Parker, Wisconsin Birder of the Year in 1994 and 1998, recently spotted the one bird that had eluded him his entire career: the Trumpeter Finch. That the bird landed stone dead in Parker's soup as he sat on his veranda took a bit of the triumph out of the old birder.
"Once I wiped the minestrone from my eyes, I couldn't believe what I was looking at," said Parker, as he absent-mindedly stroked the now stuffed bird. "I'd spent weeks in the woods looking for this bird, even hired a Trumpeter Finch consultant. And here he was floating along side some seasoned croutons. His dead eyes mocked me, I tell you."
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