I Pish in My Hammock

[Guest]

A discussion on another board about killing camp dawdling time reminded me of the joy of pishing in my hammock.

Semi-hidden and motionless in hammock recline is the ideal place for pishing. Yes, I pish in my hammock.

https://www.thespruce.com/pishing-to...t-birds-386698

I have had some amazing backcountry experiences pishing birds, and the hammock hideaway is ideal. Adding an occasional wing flutter Twkerrrr, tongue rattling softly against the roof of your mouth, seems to help.

Most memorable pishing experience was with a friend, stretched out on the ground in a mature hardwood forest during a hike, taking turns pshhh, psssh, pshhhing. Dozens and dozens of birds, multiple species, everywhere we looked.

Including a pair of Hairy Woodpeckers that perched on a limb 20 feet overhead and proceeded to peck off flakes of bark that fell softly, but aimed quite directly, onto our faces. It was a near magical Picidae interaction, and really hard not to laugh at their deliberate shenanigans as the flakes cascaded down.


EDIT: Correction, most memorable was teaching my step-mother how to pish. She was enthralled with the results that pishing produced. She taught first grade in suburban Atlanta. One day she taught her class how to pish.

A few of her students went home and excitedly exclaimed Mrs McCrea took us outside and taught us how to pish in the woods

She had some explaining to do in the following days.

Seriously, pishing. Easy technique to learn, and off alone in the backcountry is the perfect place to practice without someone thinking you have sprung a leak.

 

[sweeper]

Nice article Mike, I really was surprised by,

If recordings of bird calls are prohibited in an area, pishing may also be inappropriate.

Had no idea there was a problem of Over Pishing of Birds.

Ending a class on antique hand tools I told the kids to be careful when their parents asked them what they did in school today. You might not want to tell them you watch a guy tie a tumpline around his wannigan. If you do, make sure to watch their faces.

 

[memaquay]

I've had a hairy woodpecker wanting to pish late at night too. I usually just use a gatorade bottle.

 

[Conk]

I have been a pisher for most of my adult life. It works best if you remain motionless and hide yourself in thick brush or against the trunk of a tree. It is no surprise that hammock pishing produces good results. The following is an excerpt from a journal entry I made in August 2013. I was on a paddlewhacking adventure deep in the Five Ponds Wilderness. It describes what is still my most memorable pishing experience.

There was a great deal to captivate my interest on Little Crooked, large boulders, a unique pine and the mysterious soda bottle. While pausing in a shallow cove, I observed some Golden-Crowned Kinglets flitting about. I thought it a good moment to try a bit of pishing. Pishing is a thing birders do to rouse the attention of dickey birds deep in the bush. One simply makes a pishing sound; it is much like the hush of a librarian during a study period in high school. It sometimes helps to throw in a few squeaks and kissy sounds for diversity. Within seconds of my first pishes, before my lips had a chance to purse for a round of squeaks a dozen Kinglets popped out of the spruce. They were joined by as many Black-Capped Chickadees. I thought if they like my pishing wait until they get a load of my kissy sounds. I proceeded to slobber a shower of spittle to the delight of an increasing audience of avifauna. Common Yellowthroats, Yellow-Rumped Warblers, a Brown Creeper, White and Red-Breasted Nuthatches and a Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker were the ones I could identify. There may have been another half-dozen species lurking within the commotion. I really should invest in a pair of lightweight binoculars. It was the greatest pishing moment of my life!

 

[Guest]

Had no idea there was a problem of Over Pishing of Birds.

In less travelled backcountry areas I can not see a little pishing would be a problem. Avid birders are a funny lot; in popular birding venues pishing might be a faux pas, akin to playing recorded birdsongs, which is actually verboten in some birding areas.

Story there. Back in the 1980s I was staying up in the Chiricahuas and there were several species of owl calling at night, including Flammulated and Ferruginous. I met a nice birding couple down along Cave Creek looking to check Trogon off their life lists. When I mentioned the Flammulated they became very excited and I invited them to come up to the cabin that evening and have a listen.

They had the appearance of being serious birders, with high-end binoculars and other state of the art 1980s equipment, including an oversized tape player and speakers, which he set up out on the deck, speaker facing out in the valley. We waited a bit as the sun went down and the guy cued up Flammulated owl on his machine.

There was no doubt the call he played was a Flammulated owl, just before the call sequence he cranked the volume to 11 and broadcast the plaintive hoot of a Flammulated. Which typically does begin with a very loud voice shouting FLAMMULATED OWL CALL NUMBER ONE, followed by silence throughout the mountains. Even the crickets stopped.

I about busted a nut.

One simply makes a pishing sound; it is much like the hush of a librarian during a study period in high school. It sometimes helps to throw in a few squeaks and kissy sounds for diversity.
I thought if they like my pishing wait until they get a load of my kissy sounds. I proceeded to slobber a shower of spittle to the delight of an increasing audience of avifauna.

It is worth pishing with a friend, if only to hear their repertoire of hisses, flutters and squeaks.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Well....there's another old activity that I didn't know had a name. I guess I don't hang around any avid birders....that I know of. I thought it was just something I came up with, attempting to converse with critters......