Tried a midnight bird count at the marsh and heard a whole different world

I spent 2 hours after dark at the Bayside Marsh last month and the frog and owl sounds totally drowned out the birds I went there for, so now I'm wondering if timing is everything when you're trying to notice something new, has anyone else had a plan backfire like that and end up learning way more than they expected?

2 comments

2 Comments

jennifer8331mo ago

Sure, it's neat that you heard frogs, but calling it a "whole different world" feels like a stretch. That's just what a marsh sounds like at night, which is pretty normal if you think about it. Still, if you came for birds and got a frog concert instead, that's on you for not checking the schedule.

david_jones381mo ago

You said "that's on you for not checking the schedule," and I get that, but honestly I think that's the whole point of the original post. Half the fun of going out with a plan is watching it fall apart and noticing what shows up instead. It happens all the time in my life too, not just at the marsh. You go to the store for one thing, get stuck in a long line, and end up having a nice chat with a stranger about their dog. Or you set out to fix a leaky faucet and find out your whole pipe situation is older than you thought, which then teaches you more about your house than you ever wanted to know. The unexpected stuff is usually where the real learning hides, even if it's not what you wrote down in your notebook beforehand.