Serious Leisure

Rick is now able to pinpoint subtle
hints in order to ID a bird, like the
slight white secondary wing-tips on
this Common Murre we found today

I hear from my friends in the academic field of Recreation and Leisure that not all leisure is equal. In fact, there are several categories of leisure activities. You’ve got your regular, run-of-the-mill casual type, which tends to be rather short-lived and involves some form of pleasurable activity requiring little or no special training. And then, in the early 1980s, the sociologist Robert Stebbins introduced what he suggests is a different type of leisure activity called ‘serious leisure’. According to Stebbins, serious leisure is “the systematic pursuit of an amateur, hobbyist, or volunteer core activity that is highly substantial, interesting, and fulfilling and where, in the typical case, participants find a career in acquiring and expressing a combination of its special skills, knowledge, and experience” (Stebbins, 1992, p.3). I’d say that describes the relationship south Oregon COASSTer Rick has with the hobby of birding to a T! Rick is serious (in a leisure kind of way) about birds. Meeting on his beaches at Bullards Beach State Park this morning, Rick’s interest in the hobby of birding was apparent from the moment he hoped out of his truck with binoculars in tow. Although he had an interest in birds many years ago, Rick has recently reinvested much of his energy and time in birding after straying away from it for decades. Happening across a COASST training was just what he needed to draw him back into the world of birds.

Because Rick surveys his beaches
twice a month, it is not uncommon
for him to encounter 'refinds', or birds
that have already been processed
and tagged. We found this re-found
immature Gull today

The program has since then rekindled a strong desire to learn more about them. When Rick first started COASST several years ago, each new species he found was a new learning adventure, facilitating further research about the natural history of the species, its distribution range, migration patterns, and unique field marks or characteristics. It is an interest he has dedicated a great deal of time and energy towards, which, in turn, leaves Rick with a heightened level of ornithological expertise that was obvious during our walk today. Although he has nothing but positive things to say about the COASST program and the research they facilitate, I was left with no doubt that Rick’s first passion is the birds. It is why he committed early on to complete two monthly surveys of his beaches, simply because of a desire to facilitate a more rapid and intimate knowledge of the birds and ecosystems he gets to explore. A serious, dedicated, and knowledgeable birder contributing irreplaceable data for scientific research. I’d count that as a win-win for everyone!

Rick's familiarity with the environment around him extends beyond the birds.
As soon as we came upon this section of dunes, Rick knew this was the end of his kilometer of beach.
No marker or flags. He just knew.