Adventures in Birding . . . with a somewhat different twist

May 7, 2018 by Rokman61

I am, admittedly, a chronic bird-watcher.  One aspect to this pursuit that I find most compelling is its endless variety.  The target subjects are varied and numerous (over 10,000 species world-wide, of which I have encountered over 350 in just my local area around Vancouver).  The activity can take place in any terrain or habitat.  The avifauna changes constantly with the seasons.  There is a wide spectrum of objectives: some participants are most interested in the behaviour of the birds in their yard.  Others go out on a quest to find as many species as they can.  Some do their birding mostly close to home, others travel to the corners of the world in search of new targets.  For some it’s all about building Life-Lists, the birding equivalent of stamp collecting.  An increasing number of players are mainly focussed on photographing their quarry.  I happen to dabble in all of these pursuits, as do many of my other bird-nird friends.

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Occasionally, perhaps even rarely, our offspring are wont to follow their parents’ lead, and also become birders.  Ours have not – perhaps a good thing.  Daughter Lisa, has taken up a career in the wine industry and is currently employed by a large, local wine retailer.  Her company has several outlet stores, and recently they had a ‘Grand Opening’ at a new specialty megastore located not more than a few kilometres from our home.  Lisa normally works at head office, but for the opening all the employees get to help out.

Here Lisa is pouring freebie samples to customers. This requires keeping up a constant patter of complimentary attributes about the particular wine being poured.  One has to admire the creativity and imagination of these professional pourers.

This facet of ‘wine appreciation’ is pretty much over my head.  If asked, which is not often,  I would rate virtually all the wines offered in their store as either ‘Good’ or ‘Real good’.  After sampling a few vintages, sensing the excitement of the opening event, and browsing the endless shelves of bottles, I had seen enough and was ‘done’.

But then spouse, Norma, called my attention to these particular wines.

The bird on the label, a Calliope Hummingbird, is an iconic species found in gardens and shrubby areas throughout the Okanagan Valley, which happens to be Canada’s premium wine-producing region (although Easterners would of course argue that).

Whatever, this observation set the bells ringing, and it became obvious that a session of in-house birding was called for.

The most common bird on the shelves turned out to be versions of Red Jungle Fowl (the wild species progenitor of the barnyard chicken), most typically a rooster.

As evident in the selection of wines above, chickens show up on labels from wine regions around the world.  Next is one from the Okanagan.  Interestingly, the winery is named for the rooster, but this particular label depicts a hen.

One from California: at first I wondered if this bird was a pheasant or not a bird at all, but just an artistic brush blob.  According to Google, it is in fact a rooster.

This one is from Down Under.  ‘Chook’ is Aussie slang for the barnyard chicken, a wonderfully useful term for which we have no equivalent.

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Moving on:  some waterfowl.

(From here forward, I have placed my identification and comments below the images, in case the reader wants to have a go at making IDs for themselves).

The Mallard is one of the commonest birds encountered on a birdwalk almost anywhere in the temperate regions of the world (provided there is at least some water nearby).

 

The Canada Goose is almost as ubiquitous.  (Worth noting, not all Canada Geese are Canadian geese; many have never even been to our country).

 

This seems unlikely, but is in fact a real bird.  There are two species of Whistling-Duck in Australia, this one appearing to be the Wandering Whistling-Duck.  I’m not so sure about its whistling virtuosity.

 

A rather interesting ‘water’fowl, this Magellan Goose is a dry-land species from southernmost South America.  Known locally as Kaiken or Caiquén, it migrates back and forth over the high Andes Mountains – no trivial feat!  The winery chose this bird as a mascot to reflect the fact that they produce wines from vineyards growing on both sides of the range.  Cool.

 

Here is one is that is not strictly ‘countable’, but this Northern Pintail is such a fine example of a traditional art form that it is worth including.

 

I always take my birding very seriously, so these are two more that I will not be counting.

 

An iconic and widespread bird, the Common Raven.

 

From a Californian winery, a California Quail.

 

Check this one for a rather striking image of a Barn Owl.

 

The majestic Golden Eagle.

 

A haunting presentation of the magnificent Andean Condor.

 

It was not surprising to find large, showy birds (condors, eagles, owls, and the like) on the wine labels, as being conspicuous they catch the attention of the public eye.  Less expected are the diminutive, less-noticeable songbirds such as the perky little Rock Wren.  This drab yet pretty denizen of western desert lands is a remarkable songster – its ringing voice cascading off the rocky bluffs along the Okanagan Valley a delight to the birders’ ear.

 

Even the unpopular and nuisance European Starling gets featured on this one – albeit they must have felt a need to spiff him up a tad.

 

Not a clear image, but clearly a Eurasian or Common Kingfisher, that species being the only kingfisher of regular occurrence in Portugal.

 

The Little Penguin is also know as the Blue Penguin in New Zealand, where it is a fairly common coastal bird.  The most diminutive species in the clan.

 

This label really stirred my intrigue.  Apparently unable to settle on a single creature to present on the label, the designer went with this odd menagerie of diverse characters.  I include it here as it features the wonderful Dodo, a famous flightless bird that was discovered in 1598 and was extinct by 1662.  (It’s the one in middle with the huge beak).

Also adding to the interest of this tableau is the inclusion of a mythical beast, presumably  the Griffin (below the Dodo, with the wings, ears, and long tail) from classical mythology.

 

We agreed that this one was the sighting of the day.  It is also a bit special to Lisa, as she had a part in selecting these particular wines, admittedly because the attractive birdy label may have somewhat influenced her choice.

I do not have a bird guide book for Chile, and I could not identify the bird from the internet, so had to ask for help.  Even my expert friend could not come up with a definitive identification, possibly because the artist had taken a bit of liberty in depicting the bird.  He opined that it most closely resembles the Giant Hummingbird, which would be a likely choice, so we will go with that.

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In summary: eighteen species found – not too shabby a checklist for a half-hour of birding in a small, confined area.

The obvious follow-up would be to start a new Life-List, namely . . . ‘Birds seen on wine labels’.  Based on my cursory sample, the potential is virtually unlimited.  However, I think I will pass on this one and leave it for those who have serious interests in both birding and oenophilia.  Besides, most of my whining these days is of the kind reflected in the spelling I use here.

Cin cin!

Carlo