Sunny, cool (mid
60s), with a southerly wind
I’ve said it before and I’ll
say it again. You just never know
what you’ll run into when you’re out in nature. This morning, I wasn’t exactly looking for birds. Actually, I was playing golf with some
of my buddies from our club when we heard some really strange calls coming from
the brush alongside the 8th fairway. Since I had already placed an errant shot in that general
vicinity, I quietly made my way over to investigate.
I found 6 birds that I simply
was not familiar with foraging (loudly) in the high grass. They seemed comfortable with my
presence and I took a while to make a mental image of these strange looking
birds. My best guess was that someone
had left the coop door open and their exotic pets had made a hasty getaway.
Unfortunately, I had failed to
bring my little SONY “point and shoot” camera with me….something I try to do
whenever I do not have the “big guns” with me. So a mental image was all I had.
My first impression said
“guinea fowl”, but the few times I had seen that bird, it seemed so much
smaller and so much less bizarre.
I decided to go back later with the little camera and check to see if
they were there. As luck would
have it, when I returned, the birds had departed and were not to be seen nor
heard.
Later in the day, after the
round was over, I grabbed the big ole Nikon and made one more trip to the place
where we had seen the birds.
Eureka! There they were,
all six of them, strutting down the side of the Boulevard! I started clicking away and now had
some images to work from as far as identifying them. I checked with other birders, but they too had trouble
naming them. When you’re into
birding, you pay domestic species little concern as they are not considered
“countable”….not real wild birds.
When I got home, I decided to
go with my first hunch and check out guineafowl on Google. Sure enough, there it was…..an African
bird known as the Helmeted Guinea fowl. They have been introduced to other countries,
but not North America other than in some communities in an attempt to control
the deer tick population. They
feed extensively on these insects and may be one way of helping to control the
ticks which spread Lyme disease. A
drawback to using the birds in populated areas, however, is that they emit a
harsh cry when disturbed (like when a Titleist golf ball skips past their
heads?). So, the mystery as to
what birds these are has been solved only to pose another question…..where did
these birds come from? A question
to be answered on another day…..
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