Birders

[Nearfest2]

After NEARfest ended, I had a lot of free time. It took two years to find a new "hobby", but in 2014 I became a birder. I've learned a lot in three short years. I've also equipped myself with a nice camera and zoom lens, good binoculars, a spotting scope, waterproof boots and other accessories. I've even enrolled in an intensive online ornithology course at Cornell Lab.

Anyone else here a birder?

[zombywoof]

Lieto is!

[100423]

I enjoy watching the birds at the bird feeders in our backyard, but I don't go out actively pursuing different species (or whatever).
Seems like it would be fun though!

[JKL2000]

"Watcher of the birds, watcher of all...!"

[Nearfest2]

Wow. Just when I thought there would be a thread you wouldn't read and post to, Jud.

[Supersonic Scientist]

Since we put up a hummingbird feeder a few years back, my Wife and I enjoy watching them come to feed. We even notate on the calendar when we have our first sighting of the year.

[Nearfest2]

Nice. I assume based on your location that they are Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. You should see them soon. SE US is their first stop after migrating north across the Gulf of Mexico each spring.

[markwoll]

I am a casual birder. My father was a wildlife biologist, among other things.
All of our family trips involved side trips to Wildlife refuges, parks, etc.
I learned a lot. Then they retired to Sanibel Island where the J.N. Ding Darling refuge is located. ( a birding hot spot at some times of the year, you Want to go there )
Both he and my mom worked there for 20+ years as roving SME's for birds, vegetation , and the Calusa shell mounds at the refuge proper and at other locations on the island and in SW Florida.
So I was marinated in birding by osmosis. Even though Mom does not rove, we always drive through the refuge locations when I vist.
If you ever get down to that area, carve out some time to go to the Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary west of Bonita Springs.
Very cool boardwalk above a Cypress swamp. Every time I have been there ( 5 or 6 times ) there has been a "Stunt Bird" that hangs out by the boardwalk and does not fly away. Hawks, owls, painted bunting, Limpkin(!), Storks ( in nesting season ). Lots of reptiles and butterflys, and florida panther.

So anyhow, I know the names and some of the calls and can look stuff up in Sibley, Audubon, peterson or what have you. No apps. no thanks, I'm old school.

[Mister Triscuits]

I do wildlife photography as a hobby, largely birds. Here are some of my most recent:

Snowy egret
16904862_1263099813783520_671614385893868825_o.jpg

Green heron
16939159_1258846167542218_4881794282073237594_n.jpg

Bufflehead
16831953_1263100097116825_66420999650721789_n.jpg

Pied-billed grebe
16998136_1258846877542147_1163958837158566302_n.jpg

Clark's grebes
16427325_1217545048338997_8568006687131403587_n.jpg

[Mister Triscuits]

More...

Red-winged blackbird
16508432_1234671883292980_8860929385343268195_n.jpg

House finch
10629857_1234670873293081_8206624455431170752_n.jpg

Hooded merganser
16997724_1258844820875686_349910359348305582_n.jpg

Whimbrel
16831111_1251475781612590_1432762625726764398_n.jpg

American avocet
17021505_1263100077116827_1538492816680321783_n.jpg

[3LockBox]

So, it's not "bird watcher" anymore it's "birder"?

[progmatist]

Definitely something to tweet about.

[rcarlberg]

Train-spotting with wings.

I suspect, however, there is way more money to be made in birding than in running a progressive rock festival.

[Jefferson James]

Casual birder here; if I'm hiking or on a backpack spotting birds is just something I do. Got a pocket bird-call I mess with sometimes (drives the cats crazy). Here in the San Bernardino mountains there's a nice variety of birds. Bald eagles winter-over at Big Bear Lake about 25 miles from here, I check the "nest cam" a few times a week, it's cool when Mama snags a trout.

My prime sightings have involved endangered California condors, I saw three flying over Lake Piru once, and saw one on the side of PCH in Big Sur.

One time I was backpacking in Santa Paula canyon and I dreamed I was in the place I was camping, naked in the sunlight, and above me in the sky were seven clouds shaped like condors.

[Vic2012]

Not really into bird watching but I see a lot of wildlife in the neighborhood being we're in the Everglades. See lots of Ibis, vultures, egrets, and the invasive Muscovee Ducks and roosters running wild occasionally.

[WHORG]

Our son had a science project back when we first moved to Chapel Hill - he was in the 4th grade.

At the time - I was battling squirrels and starlings/blackbirds eating all the seed. (Eventually purchased a Squirrelbuster Plus - best investment ever for squirrels and larger birds BTW).

So he eventually identified 17 different birds in our backyard - including ducks, hawks, vultures, heron, and all the others too . . . it was our start into birding.

There's a Mom & Pop bird store close to our house that offers outings most every weekend - and I've attended a few times, it was great leveraging their experience against my meager backyard skills.

People spend some SERIOUS money on the technical end of this hobby: camera, lenses, binoculars, clothing, etc . . .

Now my kids can identify/name every single bird they see everywhere we go in the state - impressing the older folks !!!

~jk

[Steve F.]

I'm an extremely casual birder, but I really enjoy seeing them!

[Nearfest2]

Train-spotting with wings.

Not quite.

I suspect, however, there is way more money to be made in birding than in running a progressive rock festival.

I'm sure you're kidding, but there isn't money in either one.

So, it's not "bird watcher" anymore it's "birder"?

Depends on how you go about it. "Birding" implies being more active than "birdwatching," such as walking preserves, taking trips, chasing rarities, etc.

Speaking of rarities, I got a lifer yesterday (and saw it again this morning). We had a Northern Shrike show up at one of our local ecological parks here in Chester County, PA. Very exciting!

NorthernShrike_20170316.jpg

[3LockBox]

Does it mean the same thing in Britain?

[Lopez]

Not a serious birder here, but I do like identifying what I can in the backyard or on trips. I've noticed in November or December the chickadees in the backyard start getting mighty fat. I always contend if they and the sparrows get pretty fat, we'll have a bad winter.

There are some dedicated birders here in Medford where I live. Down by the Mystic Lakes in west Medford, these folks have seen a bald eagle and have published pictures of it in the local paper. Never seen it myself, but I have seen plenty of red-tailed hawks and a snowy owl.

Never heard of the Squirrelbuster Josef mentions though I'm sure I've seen it. But I do have a quick squirrel story. One would climb up a tree in the front of the house, go over the roof to the back of the house, and set up a nest under solar panels we have there. We did everything we could to get rid of him. One day the panels stopped generating electricity. We got a crew to come over, take off the panels, replace all the wires that little turd chewed through, put the panels back, and install a CritterGuard all the way around the panels. And we cut down the tree. The installer said it was the worst squirrel damage he'd ever seen under solar panels. Cost us a bundle.

[Mister Triscuits]

Speaking of rarities, I got a lifer yesterday (and saw it again this morning). We had a Northern Shrike show up at one of our local ecological parks here in Chester County, PA. Very exciting!

Ooh, nice!

[Staun]

Cool, now if someone would come and get these damned Canadian Geese.

[Nearfest2]

Does it mean the same thing in Britain?

They're called Twitchers in England.

[Nearfest2]

Cool, now if someone would come and get these damned Canadian Geese.

Canada Geese, not Canadian Geese.

[adap2it]

They're called Twitchers in England.

Because of the OTHER kind of birds in Britain, the watchers are called HORNYoligists....