Luck

Louisiana's a pretty big chunk of land and sea. Even if you confine yourself to a corner of it, as I do, you're still looking at an endless grid of roads, woodlands, and open land.  On one hand, that's great: Interesting birds might be anywhere out there.  On the other hand, that's a problem: Interesting birds might be anywhere out there. 

Some birders feel that their skills are so sharp that they can detect any birds they come near.  I'm not sure where those birders stand on UFOs and the Great Pumpkin.  I have a more logical outlook; I feel that birds have managed to survive because they can stay undetected when they want to.  Finding something rare among the swarms of birds that fill every available patch of habitat must boil down to something else.  I think it's mostly luck.

Luck isn't all of it, of course.  A birder can study trends, target habitats, and play the odds by searching out areas where rare birds have been found with higher frequency.  However, all the foresight in the world can't help if a great bird happens to fly behind a building when the wise birder is driving by. 

There's a famous expression, "Luck is where preparation meets opportunity."  I'd say the majority of great bird sightings can be filed under that piece of wisdom.