Mike Visits Famous Hotspot
Above is a picture of me birding while sitting on a picnic table within the Patagonia Roadside Rest Stop. From the Birders Dictionary on GreatBirdPics.com:
Patagonia Picnic Table Effect – There is a concrete picnic table at a rest stop on State Route 82 just outside of Patagonia, Arizona. Rumor has it some birders stopped by there about 50 years ago and spotted a rare bird and told their friends. They stopped at the picnic table and spotted some more rare birds. They told their friends, who spotted more birds … a 2011 bulletin from the National Wildlife Refuge Association summed it up: “One good bird attracts birders, who often discover yet another good bird, which brings more birders, ad infinitum.”
A recent analysis of rare bird sightings compiled by a researcher at Oregon State University busts this myth, finding that sighting a rare bird in a new area does not lead to more rare bird sightings by all the birders that flock there. Nonetheless, it’s now a part of birding lore – and a fun one, at that!
Since it first became an eBird Hotspot 5,423 checklists have been submitted with 229 species identified. It’s just a roadside pulloff with one concrete picnic table but it was a thrill to be able to add my checklist (of two species) for this legendary Hotspot.
Go Birding. Take Pics. Share Here. Repeat.
Mike
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And here I thought you nabbed a picture of Indiana Jones!