Thursday, June 4, 2015

Snowy Owl Effect

 Most birders in Newfoundland have learned to do a double-take on anything white along the roadway. This stems from the periodic Snowy Owl visits. Ninety-nine percent of the time, the white blob turns out to be a beef bucket or a garbage bag.
As I was driving along Petty Harbour Road, I spotted one of those strange white blips out of the corner of my eye. Fully expecting it to be a garbage bag caught up in the tree, I went back anyway to check it out.
There sat a Great Egret. This is precisely why I feel the need to raise the binoculars and stare at anything white along the roadway. It is this kind of intermittent reinforcement that keeps me alert.

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