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Hey bird thread. I got into birding in May of this year, when a coworker (lifelong birder) got me interested in it. Not sure what exactly prompted it for me, but I soon got a field guide, binoculars, some of the apps, registered on eBird, and have enjoyed all of it. Before that, I had thought (like probably many people) that "birdwatching" was just something old people did while sitting on the porch in the morning, and didn't really think anything more of it beyond that. Thanks to resources like this thread, it became clear to me how wrong I was, and how much depth it really has. It's a nice way to enjoy nature, you can do it wherever you travel, it's something you can do through your whole life, and it gives you a knowledge you can keep building on over that whole time. I'm at almost 70 species on my list now, and it kind of amazes me how much I've been able to learn just by going out, seeing some bird I don't know, and researching and identifying it. It's also sort of a curse, though. I do a lot of running (especially on trails), and it's almost impossible for me to go on a run now without being distracted by some unique-sounding call and wishing I could just stop every time to try and see what the drat thing is.  I'd be interested in knowing if anyone else shares this pain while running/biking/whatever.Might as well throw a long-shot identification question out, too. One evening in the summer I was in the parking area of a trail, and I heard this really loud bird in a nearby tree doing a distinct "OOO-EHH! OOO-EHH!" It made that sound in pairs, stayed quiet for a short time, and then did it again. Unfortunately, couldn't see it at all. I heard this for maybe 30 seconds before I saw its very vague silhouette through a tree as it flew down near some road out of my sight. All I could vaguely tell was that it was fairly sizeable, I was thinking at least as big as a hawk, but I had absolutely no view of colors, shape, etc. I looked up some birds assuming maybe some kind of a hawk or falcon or something, but no species that I listened to seemed match the tone or cadence of the call I heard. Any obvious ones that come to mind? This was in southeastern Pennsylvania in probably July/August.
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Oct 29, 2016 23:29
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| # ¿ May 8, 2024 14:50 |
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Anyone want to offer their opinion on cameras to document birds? The OP does mention this, but since it's over 3 years old, it seems worth asking again. My aim is to do as well as I can under $500. I've been primarily looking at superzoom cameras, since I would really like something that's fairly easy to use, not massive/heavy, and has plenty of reach to have a shot at capturing birds in the distance. I understand a DSLR will always provide the best image quality, but I'm willing to sacrifice some of that for these other factors. I'm mainly looking for quality that's good enough to identify a bird after the fact, and tag on my eBird checklists with reasonable clarity (not looking to blow them up and frame them on my walls or anything). I've been looking at the Canon Powershot SX60 HS (the OP recommended the SX50 at the time), but am waiting to see if the price drops lower than where it's at. Does anyone else use this camera, or a perhaps a similar alternative that I should be considering for birding? I'd be interested in hearing any perspectives on these. Side note: My wife actually has a Canon DSLR, but not with any lens with enough zoom, so another option would be for me to just invest in a new lens to accomplish this. I'm sure this would be the preferred approach of any true photographer; however, I'm not convinced I could easily do this within my budget, especially if I want something portable enough to carry alongside binoculars. But if anyone disagrees, feel free to educate me!
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Jan 15, 2017 05:10
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ExecuDork posted:Welp, I have achieved a near-minimum-possible entry into the world of eBird. I just submitted my Great Backyard Bird Count: a grand total of 2. Not 2 species, 2 individual Black-Capped Chickadees, that I almost did not see, just hear, chasing each other through the bare branches of the small trees at the base of the slope, on the shore of the St Laurence at Quebec City. The eBird maps show two hotspots near where I was. I went up the observation tower that I think must be one of those hotspots, but I didn't make my count there because I saw nothing except some crows on the side of the tower blocked from view and there were many people around. I walked out onto the ice, hoping to see something like a gull or a mallard that hadn't migrated, but nope, nothing. So I walked a ways down the path to a point where some picnic tables were sticking up out of the deep snow, just off the path, and I sat on a table and scanned everything I could see with my binos. At minute 14 the chickadees showed themselves, but I was already certain of the ID from their calls. Birding is like that sometimes. Sometimes you're in the right place at the right time, and other times it feels like a struggle just to find anything. There are definitely things you can do to increase your odds, like going at the right time of the day (i.e. as early morning as possible), knowing good spots, and identifying calls and things that you didn't notice previously. But if the birds just decide they don't feel like showing themselves, then good luck! I've noticed a big influx of rare bird alerts due to the GBBC activity, and also reports at my local places from several people who appear to be new to eBird, which is cool. Except one of them reported 2 Cassin's Finches in their yard here in eastern PA, with no photos or description. I don't want to say that I know for sure that that's wrong, but something tells me it is! Hopefully someone can correct them for next time.
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Feb 19, 2018 04:03
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It's also worth noting that while the eBird app is essentially just for creating checklists, the ebird.org website itself has a bunch of tools that let you explore what birds have been logged at different hotspots/regions, what birds you are most likely to see in an area during different times of the year, pictures/descriptions from other people in your area, etc. All that stuff is immensely helpful if you're in an area where you're not already familiar with most of the species and may not be confident in creating your actual checklist live in the field. Myself, I usually like to just type a list in the notes app on my phone, then I log them on the ebird website when I get home. That way, if there are birds I'm unsure of, I can just log notes and then research anything later before I make the actual checklist.
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Jan 27, 2019 01:44
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Kites seem super cool, I too am jealous of anyone who can see them normally. We've had some good luck with rare birds here in southeast PA lately, with a state-first Tundra Bean-Goose that's been around for the past few days. I got to go see it yesterday morning along with an Allen's Hummingbird at a feeder within a 10 minute drive from there. Made a great combo for a lot of people. Around a week prior there was also a Northern Wheatear a bit more north, though I didn't try to see that. On a lesser and more personal note, I spotted my first Cackling Goose last weekend, a lifer that felt a bit overdue for me. Or at least, the first time I've ever noticed one and could tell it apart from Canada Geese (which was actually more obvious than I expected it to be). Seeing mega-rarities with a bunch of other people is cool and all, but there's nothing quite like spotting something unexpected on your own. Plus it was the first one recorded at that hotspot. 
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Dec 20, 2020 22:09
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I was going to agree but held off, since as a northeastern birder I'm pretty clueless on Texas and couldn't confidently know whether it could be some other Phoebe lookalike species in that area.  The behavior you saw is very typical of flycatchers, which is the type of family a Phoebe falls into. And they do just that, catch flies, often perched from the same spot that they'll flitter off of and return to multiple times. Other flycatchers, like the Empidonax group, are notoriously hard to tell apart from each other (and sometimes may not even be feasible to if they don't vocalize). But at least in my area, Phoebes are pretty distinctive. They also pump their tail up and down constantly, so that's something to keep an eye out for as well.
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Jan 26, 2021 21:51
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BeastOfExmoor posted:The only time I've seen people get a bit aggravated are when people get adamant about wrong-IDs or refuse to accept a correct ID. Same here. I was also surprised by what OP described. Like, I can't really imagine someone just asking, "hey, what's this bird?" and getting aggression back. I could believe getting condescension from someone, since bird people can be jerks like anyone else (like, "heh, you really didn't know that?"), but in my experience it's not normal. In FB groups I usually see the opposite - lots of people eager to ID something, even if 20 people before them did already. Which is also consistent with my personal experience. I, and I think many birders, am a huge nerd and absolutely love when someone asks me what a bird is or how to differentiate different species. I have at times been intimidated around people much more experienced than me, and felt like I didn't want to say something dumb around them, but for me it's been completely self-inflicted by insecurity and not actually reinforced by how people have actually acted toward me. Usually if I see people get heated in bird groups, it's due to one of these reasons: 1. Someone refusing to admit their wrong ID (like previously mentioned) 2. A debate over a more typical controversial issue, like hunting or birding ethics 3. Asking in a place not intended for that (like going into a group intended only for reporting rarities and posting about all the common birds you saw in your backyard that morning) But yeah, facebook, who knows what you might run into. Just the other day I saw a post about bird feeding turn into an all-caps shouting match. Person 1 lamented seeing a hawk pick off a bird at her feeder and wanted to know how to shoo the hawks away. Person 2 said that the raptors need to eat too and that it's unethical to keep them away. Person 1 said it's their feeder, their yard, and they didn't want to see it. Person 2 disagreed. And from there, whoo boy, they sure got into it.
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Feb 4, 2021 04:02
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For what it's worth, I have a superzoom camera (Canon Powershot SX60) that I bought refurbished a few years ago, and I've been happy with it. That type of camera is never going to deliver the same quality as a DSLR, and it's never going to be the most compact thing either, but I still think it makes sense as long as it matches your priorities. For me, I wanted to take documentation shots of birds that I could go review later, or attach to eBird checklists, and I wanted something flexible enough to get me a lot of zoom without being unwieldy and annoying to take places. I don't usually spend time trying to get the best quality shot possible or messing with adjustments, and I still end up with some that I find surprisingly good even without trying, at least to my fairly untrained eye. I'm sure they'd be even better in the hands of someone who cares more and has the photos as the main goal. Although, I'll admit I haven't kept up to date the models and pricing of these. I suspect that all the suggestions here would be great for your use case as long as you can find them in your price range.
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Feb 5, 2021 03:08
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| # ¿ May 8, 2024 14:50 |
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I was just reading stuff from a couple people in my state who were trying out the new sound ID functionality. Apparently it was correctly identifying the vast majority of things they threw at it, across lots of different species. Even stuff like a yellow-throated vireo that was over 100 yards away, so not very loud. I’m sure it’s not perfect but it seems like people are surprised by how accurate it already is. Pretty sweet, I’m looking forward to trying it.
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Jun 30, 2021 03:54
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