Brilliant....and thank you for the fun.

Mariel Stephenson
Columbia, Mo
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Marilyn Koshland" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, October 15, 2006 9:07 PM
Subject: Re: A Ramble about Pishing!


> There was a man named Bob Fisher
> Who claimed he wasn't much of a pisher
> I think that's a llie
> For he could identify
> Everything from a tern to kingfisher.
>
> He knew every song and bird call
> So a pish wasn't needed at all...
> He was great with the tape
> That left owls agape
> And knew all birds' plumage in fall..
>
> He knew behavior and flight
> Of every damn bird in sight
> So to have a wish
> For the perfect pish
> Hardly seems fair or quite right!
>
>
> Love from here, Marilyn Koshland
>
> Robert Fisher wrote:
>
>> I enjoyed Laura's post.
>>
>> I started birding in 1947 and have been pishing, mimicking Screech-owls
>> and playing Screech-owl tapes for nearly 60 years. I have birded with
>> Pete Dunne and have watched him in action at close range.
>>
>> Based upon my extensive experience, I offer two hard and fast rules about
>> pishing, taping, etc., plus ten more not-so-fast rules that often seem to
>> be true:
>>
>> 1. Hard and Fast Rule 1: Sometimes it works. At other times it doesn't.
>>
>> 2. Hard and Fast Rule 2: I'm never going to be as good at it as Pete
>> Dunne.
>>
>> 3. No-so-fast Rule 1 (Also known as "Fisher's Rule.") Don't play the
>> tape until you see a bird.
>>
>> 4. No-so-fast Rule 2: Everything works better when I am relaxed. If I am
>> tense and/or impatient, it affects the cadence of my pishing, sends out
>> bad vibes and makes the birds suspicious. Self confidence and spiritual
>> harmony are important aspects of pishing.
>>
>> 5. No-so-fast Rule 3: The owl tape works especially well when there is a
>> live Screech-owl in the area. (Sometimes the birds ignore me and gather
>> around a hollow tree, from the interior of which, I assume, the real
>> Screech-owl is purring softly).
>>
>> 6. No-so-fast Rule 4: Pishing up LeConte's and other grassland sparrows
>> allegedly works for other people. It never seems to work for me.
>>
>> 7. No-so-fast Rule 5: Hole-nesting birds respond best to pishing and
>> tape playing. Migrant warblers sometimes respond. Grassland birds rarely
>> respond. Swimming ducks and geese never respond. (This is just common
>> sense.)
>>
>> 8. No-so-fast Rule 6: Neither pishing nor owl taping works when it's
>> windy.
>>
>> 9. No-so-fast Rule 7: Swishing (a vigorous form of pishing) by a brush
>> pile usually causes the sparrows in the brush pile to pop up and make
>> themselves visible.
>>
>> 10. No-so-fast Rule 8: Owl-taping works better in the early morning
>> and/or late afternoon than at mid-day. Birds that hear an owl tape at
>> 2:00 p.m. usually say to themselves, "You've got to be kidding!"
>>
>> 11. No-so-fast Rule 9: Really depressing gloom-before-the-storm
>> atmospheric conditions often depress any response to pishing and/or owl
>> taping.
>>
>> 12: No-so-fast Rule 10: Where to place the tape is an art. I try to
>> locate it in relation to nearby trees and bushes so that the birds will
>> gather and scold where they are easy to see. Despite nearly 60 years of
>> trying to learn the art, I still have not mastered it.
>>
>> A couple of ethical rules should also be remembered:
>>
>> 1. Don't stimulate territorial birds for more than brief time periods
>> during the nesting season. (Lengthy tape playing can wear birds out
>> and/or cause them to abandon their territories),
>>
>> 2. Frequent stimulations of the same birds in the same location are
>> unethical at any time of year.
>>
>> Bob Fisher
>> Independence, Missouri
>> [log in to unmask]
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