As Tina Turner sang, "What's Luck Got To Do With It?" At least, I think it was Tina. It could have been the coach of the Indianapolis Colts, responding to a question about why they lost last week. Or something like that.
In our case, it all depends on how you define luck.
This weekend saw us pick off four new birds, bringing our total to 670 for the year. All of these finds could be considered "lucky", in that they didn't just fly up and land on our heads. For instance:
- After driving around farmlands outside of Bozeman, MT, for three hours trying to find Gray Partridge, we decided to make one last stop before lunch at some fields where they had been reported over the summer. These fields were in town, across from a large apartment complex, so we parked and walked along the road to avoid clogging up traffic. Suddenly, The Wife shouted, "Over there!" as she happened to briefly see a large group of appropriately-sized birds land about 200 yards away in a nearby pasture. After waiting 15 minutes for them to see them through the thick grass, she may also have hopped over the barbed-wire fence and stomped through the pasture to encourage them to move. But she wouldn't brazenly flaunt birding etiquette to do something like that, so I must be mis-remembering.
- At the Victoria International Airport in Sidney, British Columbia, we walked three miles around the perimeter of the airport trying to find Sky Lark, frustrated in our efforts to hear them by the din of planes landing, helicopters taking off, lawnmowers munching through grass, and cars passing. But, at one point, there was a lull in the noise, and we heard their distinctive buzzy calls! They were far from the fenceline, hopping in the grass perilously near the runway, so we were never had great looks but we did clearly hear the song.
- After disembarking from the Sidney-to-Anacortes, WA ferry, we took a side road to a nearby bay to find an Eurasian Wigeon that had been reported the previous day. That bay had exactly zero ducks on it, so we continued along the side road to connect back with the highway. The road was surrounded by trees, but just before reaching the highway, the trees ended and we had another angle on the water. And, lo, and there was a large flock of ducks! Making an abrupt left into the parking lot of a Native-American-run casino, we scanned the flock and found our wigeon.
In all of these cases, the birds we were trying to find were somewhat uncommon and either secretive or very nomadic, or both, and so challenging to locate. And, all of them were found because of some turn of events. But, I don't think these were all merely cases of being "lucky".
We had traveled to those locations because we knew the birds were there, either because they were known to be resident or had been recently reported. We could identify the birds because we had studied their pictures and sounds, so we could pick key field marks out quickly. And, we knew their habits, so we knew where and when to look. As the Roman philosopher Seneca reportedly said, "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." So with that definition, we were lucky to find those birds.
Remember that the next time you shoot a basketball from half-court and it goes in, and your buddies say, "Lucky shot, dude!" Just tell them that you were prepared, and that Tina Turner would be proud.
