Birding attire
Active birding can require different clothing than I typically wear, and some birding hotspots require even more specific types of clothing. For instance, the flight on this Saturday will put me in south Texas, where the predicted high temp for the next five days ranges in the upper 80s.
Being a native Southern Californian, I do not fear those temps, but I do recognize that those temps and our itinerary for the Birder of the Year mean that my jeans and shorts are not the most suitable attire. I set out on a quest for new, lightweight outdoor pants and ran smack into a wall of khaki.
Please allow me to indulge my inner girly-girl: Khaki? That's a horrid color! Who the heck wants to wear khaki?! That color matches nothing... except tan. Why do I have to ignore my fashion sense while birding?
So here's my question: While birding in the field, what colors (khaki and tan are off-limits) are considered acceptable and attractive?
Being a native Southern Californian, I do not fear those temps, but I do recognize that those temps and our itinerary for the Birder of the Year mean that my jeans and shorts are not the most suitable attire. I set out on a quest for new, lightweight outdoor pants and ran smack into a wall of khaki.
Please allow me to indulge my inner girly-girl: Khaki? That's a horrid color! Who the heck wants to wear khaki?! That color matches nothing... except tan. Why do I have to ignore my fashion sense while birding?
So here's my question: While birding in the field, what colors (khaki and tan are off-limits) are considered acceptable and attractive?
posted by Amy at 8:56 AM
4 Comments:
Colors....Well for one Red is gonna encourage hummingbirds inspecting you for sweet nectar. Any thing made from guatemalan cloth is not only cool or warm depending on the situation...but very fashionable in the field. I like the cargo shorts in greens...but always toped with a flowery shirt. Silk while birding? Yes...fabulous! If you look to the luftwaffe aeroplanes as a guide for camoflauge, you can see there are more ways to blend than earth colors. I find that I feel much better feeling and being girly in the field. The trick is breaking up your silhouette. A big blob of tan not my idea of what to wear. So birders...shake it up a bit!
I'm not a khaki guy at all, so I just wear jeans whatever the weather. They may not be the most optimal wardrobe selection but, as I learned from Billy Crystal channeling Fernando Lamas, it is better to look good than to feel good!
I am with you! Wish some of the outdoor people would talk with people who really go outside... I don't like kaki; clothing that clings and builds up stattic; fuzzy stuff (gets all over my camera); khaki or the stuff that looks like I am an escapee from a tropical island. I did find some stuff in loden green(not much better) If it has to be neutral how about gray? BTW (not scientific but - I did notice that the birds in my yard seem more spooked when I wear red...
Lizabird: Thanks for mentioning silk shirts. I'll keep an eye out for possibilities.
Mike: Thanks. Now I've got that voice in my head.
Endment: Gray? I'm not averse to it, but I've heard admonishments about wearing white in the field. Is gray too similar??
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