What I didn’t know was how early on my entry into this new world would lead to a New Year’s Resolution (NYR), something I have never done in my life except in facetious references to the whole concept. Of course I know and have read about all the “noise” besieging social media users, so my eyes were wide open going in, and both sites have a lot of rules designed to keep things friendly and educational. Still I was surprised how quickly I had to formulate my first ever NYR if I were to keep on posting on the sites—do not engage!
Within the first week of my posting on the first site, one which was limited to photos taken only in Arizona, I uploaded one of my favorite hummingbird shots, an Anna’s male taken several years ago as it drank at our backyard water bubbler. It’s an eye candy shot in which the bird is hovering with its beak immersed in the upper reaches of the bubbling water column, its beautiful gorget reflected in two or three of the bubbles. The scene is rather monochromatic except for the wonderful, vibrant raspberry gorget and crown of the bird.
As birders, and the hummers themselves know, even the most colorful of the males can appear just plain old overall green unless the sun angle is just right to radiate the gorget colors, but you can bet the males know how to rotate their heads to show out those colors to prospective females. I love the photo because I had been lucky enough to catch what the guide books prosaically call “red.” Please! It can be scarlet, rose, magenta, wine, blush, fuchsia, ruby—and every time that gorget catches the sun, it will be a different hue of “red.”
But, speaking of “ruby,” birders know the Ruby-throated Hummingbird of the East can show those same spectacular hues, but only on the gorget, not the head, and a Ruby-throat is seen and properly identified in Arizona in winter only once every few years. Sure enough, one of the first comments about my photo was a terse, authoritative “Ruby-throat.” My first inclination, quickly suppressed, was to post a snarky comment on the commenter’s birding bona fides. Then I got to thinking I might be tactfully instructive, pointing out how rare a Ruby-throat would be in Arizona. Finally, though, I settled on my NYR—No engagement, no response, keep it easy, quick, and fun.
It was into the second week of posting on the second site, limited to raptors only but unrestricted to any location and drawing from photographers world-wide, that I had to employ my NYR for the second time. I had posted a probably once-in-a-lifetime action shot of a male American Kestrel atop a Giant Saguaro with the remains of a hapless bird it had dispatched. It was a “blood and guts” photo, one of those “circle of life” moments, but lucky (again) for me, the falcon was mantling the prey as a female kestrel was dropping down on him, talons extended, trying to steal it. Here is how I captioned the image—“A male American Kestrel mantling its prey as its mate swoops to take it away.”
The first response the photo received was again terse and authoritative--”They are both tiercels, so not its mate unless they are gay.” Wow, lots to unload here but wait, there’s more. That comment engendered several others, a whole debate really, indicating none of the posters were familiar with how to distinguish male from female American Kestrels. And “tiercel?” True certainly, but I hadn’t heard anyone call a male falcon a “tiercel” (and technically the female is the “falcon”) for years, and I thought it a rather presumptive attempt for the first responder to show off his birding chops, though obviously he didn’t possess any.
This second incident required a little longer for me to reconcile my new NYR. This was a new and different site, but it was one in which the comments seemed to show, in general, a lot more birding knowledge and appreciation than the Arizona birds only site, so I was surprised posters would be unfamiliar with the plumage differences of male and female American Kestrels.
And “gay birds?” Is there even such a thing! I have a large snark button, but I’m well aware of it, so I ultimately decided I wasn’t letting a stranger push it. I employed my NYR once again—no engagement, no response. I’ve continued to post photos on both sites, and I’ve enjoyed seeing others’ photos, especially some of the raptors of Europe and the Far East with which I am totally unfamiliar. Oh, and now that I’ve realized the value of my NYR, I may have to try another, different one next year.