Good Birders Don't Wear White

I got Good Birders Don't Wear White, a collection of essays by 50 top birders.  People who watch birds can be a funny group but most of them are able to see the humor in themselves.  This book talks about the joy of birding, the frustrations of birding, and the etiquette of birding.  I especially liked the chapter ten by Don and Lillian Stokes.  The title of that chapter was "Follow The Rules To See A Mangrove Cuckoo."  The thing is, I did see a mangrove cuckoo when I went on a trip to Sanibel Island.  We were biking through a park.  I spotted a bird flitting through the mangrove bush.  It was hard to see.  We got off the bikes and watched, frustrated, as the bird hopped from branch to branch inside the thick shrub while mostly remaining on the far side of the bush.  I was persistent and eventually identified it as a mangrove cuckoo.  I had no idea they are so difficult to find. Other people go to Sanibel Island looking for birds and specifically the mangrove cuckoo for ten years or more and never see it.  One of the tips in the book for seeing a mangrove cuckoo is to not look for it.  Must be true because that is how it worked for me.  Oh, and by the way, it is okay for a birder to wear white most of the time but not when in a canyon in New Mexico trying to spot an Eared Quetzel.