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| Limpkin |
"Chasing a bird" is a saying in the birding circles when a birder goes out of his way to see a bird.
Why would anyone do that? Birders will chase a bird they've never seen before or a bird that has been sighted out of his usual territory and considered "rare".
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| Georgia Veterans State Park |
Debbie and I chased the Limpkin this month. It took us three separate trips to the area to finally see the bird. We usually see these rare birds on our first try. The only place you could find this bird in the U.S. is typically in Florida. Otherwise you'll have to go to the Caribbean Islands or further south.
Two Limpkins came to the Georgia Veterans State Park giving Georgia birders a unique opportunity to see it. We saw both.
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| We enjoyed the pretty area while we were there |
Several birders from Georgia went to see this one bird! Many drove farther than we have. For us, it was a little over one hour drive from Macon. It's also nice to run into other birders. I believe everyone who saw the bird felt it was worth it. We did.
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| Limpkin by Jerry Amerson |
This is a better picture of the Limpkin taken by my friend Jerry Amerson. You can tell he has a better camera than I do! Debbie and I had a good close view of the bird but he flew farther before I could take a good picture.
Now we have Limpkin in our list of birds. Oh yes! that's the whole purpose, right? Beside enjoying the birds, we keep a list of birds we've identified in a "year-list" and a "life-list". And if a rare bird comes close to where you live, you go check it out.
