Craziest Trip Prep Ever...

Barbara Seith
Nov 9
2 min read

Yes, I always prepare for birding trips, but this time for my trip to Costa Rica, it was another level. It started by studying new birds by doing art studies of them. Turns out it is a great way to learn them, but I got a little obsessive. I ended up organizing, drawing and highlighting field marks with watercolor @400 birds. I'm now exhausted just thinking about it, but now I am really excited to meet the birds "live" in a few days.

Consequently I have done practically nothing other than preparing for the trip -- not just doing studies, but leaving for a few weeks requires lots of organizing and upfront work, including packing! So this week you are "just" getting the studies - they started out being fairly detailed and then I realized I would never finish in time, so I started focusing just on field marks that set the bird apart. Not 100 percent successful, but I'm really happy with the result with just 2.5 weeks of work.

Will catch you up on Birdability week and the past two weeks in Rhode Island (fairly uneventful) when I get back at the end of the month. Of course, shortly after that you will get to see the results of the Costa Rica trip.

Vireos & Greenlets