I grew up feeding birds, and it was great fun to take bread, crackers, popcorn or other edibles to a park, lake or refuge. The birds always seemed to know who had food tucked away.
I vividly remember ducks and other birds gathering around me while I broke off bits of bread and crackers and fed them. I always tried to give the most to the ones I felt sorry for because of a broken wing, bent leg or other malformity.
I learned a lot about critters from those childhood bird-feeding excursions. I learned to recognize aggressive behavior because occasionally one of the birds would try to take the food from me or peck at me to get me to drop the food.
My Mom or Dad would simply stomp their foot and the offending bird would back down instantly. Geese were particularly aggressive, and my parents would watch them closely.
Sadly, it is no longer permissible to feed the birds at some of our best bird hangouts. The Bird Refuge is one such place. It is a great place to wander about and check out the birds, but the interactions I grew up enjoying and learning from are now considered wrongdoing.
After one memorable trip there, my daughter reported a sad scene as a lady brought a lunch bag from McD’s and ate her lunch in front of the hungry-looking birds. Does anyone here think those birds don’t know exactly what a Big Mac tastes like, or which of the big fast food chains makes the best fries? Heck, they probably recognize the fast food company’s logos and colors on the bags.
Out at sea, rules are not as stringent. I have been chartered a number of times to take groups of birdwatchers out to sea. On some trips we make the run to Santa Cruz Island to look for the island scrub jay or shore birds such as oystercatchers.
On most trips, we scout mid-Channel to locate local and pelagic seabirds. These winged hunters generally need to be brought into viewing rang and nothing seems to work quite as well as popcorn.
When birdwatchers board my charterboat in the morning, they have their lunches, cameras, binoculars, species identification and logbooks, and several huge bags of popped corn. It turns out popcorn is the best chum for many species of seabirds.
I commonly look for an area with current breaks or upwelling, because I know from experience that these are spots where birds naturally tend to forage. When we begin chumming handfuls of popcorn, birds seem to mysteriously appear out of nowhere. It can be quite astounding how many different species of birds will wheel and dive around the boat.
After gathering dozens and sometimes hundreds of birds around the boat, everyone has an opportunity to log the birds new to them. Then we get underway and cruise at about 8 knots with a great mixed flock of birds moving with us. At times there are so many birds that it looks like Alfred Hitchcock may have been right.
The idea behind getting underway and bringing the birds with us by continuing to toss out popcorn chum, is that the birds present a different photographic profile when following along with a moving boat than when flocking to a drifting and nearly stationary boat.
One thing is for sure: Those seabirds sure love popcorn. Too bad we can’t make the refuge birds happier. I think I’d enjoy turning into a kid again and feeding them.
Need your help supporting a conservation-minded event.
The Santa Barbara chapter of Coastal Conservation Association – California is putting on a fishing photo contest Saturday, Aug. 15, 6 a.m.-2 p.m. local time anywhere in the world. The $25 entry fee supports the conservation and habitat work of the organization, so even if you can’t fish, please sign up and support the cause with an entry fee or more. Do it now while it is fresh on your mind.
Simply go the website www.CCACalifornia.org and click on the link (on the right side) for 2020 Goleta Bay Blowout.
— Capt. David Bacon operates WaveWalker Charters and is president of SOFTIN Inc., a nonprofit organization providing seafaring opportunities for those in need. Visit softininc.blogspot.com to learn more about the organization and how you can help. Click here to read previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.
