Am I a birdwatcher?

I am often asked if or “accused of” I am a birdwatcher. The short answer is, no, I am not. I simply love birds but more importantly, enjoy taking photographs of them. An ancillary question is, “Why do you keep going back to the same places?”. This image of a Black-crested Bulbul is a good example. For a birdwatcher, seeing this bird in this setting would be good enough. Well seen, easily IDed, it would be checked off on their list and they would move on. I photographed it for ID. It is a marginal photograph; the bird was too far away resulting in a very heavy crop, the background is poor, and the bird was elevated above me significantly resulting in poor eye contact. I need to go back to where I saw this bird (central Vietnam) to try to get a better photograph. To get a better image/photo is the quest. That is why Deb and I are returning to Costa Rica next year for the 13th time. Doubt we will see many “new” birds, but I will strive to get better photos of the ones we have seen and photographed many times.