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Knockknees
Dec 21, 2004

sprung out fully formed
Some google searching has shown me, that not only is there a specific spot in Chicago that gets lots of birds, there is one specific HEDGE in this park where all the birds hide out. Geez!

http://www.lakecookaudubon.org/Montrose_Point.html

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Kawalimus
Jan 17, 2008

Better Living Through Birding And Pessimism
Ha ha!! That's amazing.

Wish I knew of a magic hedge around here. Though that almost sounds too easy! :D

BeastOfExmoor
Aug 19, 2003

I will be gone, but not forever.

Kawalimus posted:

Often in urban areas you will get places that are great during migration. Routes that have been used for over thousands of years that don't have much green left on them but the little spots that do pretty much get everything that comes through. These are referred to as "migrant traps". There's a good birding documentary I saw on HBO called "Birders: The Central Park Effect" that goes over this. I know a guy who lives in Baltimore City near an area like this, and in the spring he will get between 15 and 20 warbler mornings sometimes. I know a couple near me as well. So if you live in Chicago there might be a place near you like that if you ever don't mind staying in or near the city. But I'm not familiar with Chicago's stuff obviously since I don't live there. I know mostly east coast stuff.

Yea, living in a major metro area can be a blessing and a curse for this reason. There's not as many birds, but they concentrate in the few large green areas that exist and there's more birders there so they report more species. In Seattle there are like three heavily birded parks and they always turn up half a dozen rarities a year. Meanwhile, half an hour north where things spread out a little bit it's very hard to find any of these rare birds even though they almost certainly pass through this county after they leave.

I know there's good birding in Chicago from some ABA Blogs. Here's one I remember most that shows big year totals for specific "patches", many of them in Chicago. Yea, those are extremes, but I bet 150+ species could be seen in any given year by a dedicated person.

This seems like a good place to start:
http://chicagobirder.org/

Looks like they have walks and field trips. Spending time with other birders can be really helpful if you pay attention. Where do people look, what are they looking for, etc.

BeastOfExmoor fucked around with this message at 21:52 on Sep 5, 2013

InternetJunky
May 25, 2002

800peepee51doodoo posted:

Me and a buddy tried tracking down some grays in Oregon last winter and didn't even see them, let alone get any photos. Totally cross country skied in and then sat in the snow for two days for nothing. Such a bummer. Gonna try again this winter but in a place where the owls are known to be habitually seen.
If you ever make it up to Alberta, Canada during the winter I'd be happy to introduce you to "my" owls.

razz
Dec 26, 2005

Queen of Maceration

Knockknees posted:

Edit: Razz thanks for responding to my post! Yes, that state park is absolutely where I was birding. A really gorgeous place.

It is a really nice place! I used to live in Hanover, IL which isn't too far from there, and me and my coworker went there hiking and fishing a few times. I worked at the Upper Mississippi River National wildlife and Fish Refuge (longest name ever!) and it was actually my first ever bird job :)

So much of being able to identify a bird is knowing what to look for (such as relative bill size difference with Downy and Hairy woodpeckers). Bill size and shape is a good thing to note - does the bird have a thick chunky bill like a sparrow, or a thin pointy bill like a warbler? Or maybe it has a wide triangular bill like a flycatcher?

How did it fly (if you saw it fly)? Was it a straight path or a bobbing, undulating flight? Were the wings rounded or were they long and narrow?

Did you note any interesting colors or patterns on the bird? Stripe over the eye, stripe through the eye, white bar(s) across the wings? What about the tail, is it square or pointed? Was the tail notched? Etc, etc. Just try and quickly note a few key features if you can, then you can look it up later.

One good place to start is learning bird topography, or basically the names of regions on a bird's body. Like so:



It becomes much easier to ID a bird from memory or from notes once you realize that literally every part of a bird has a name! So you can go from saying something like "I saw a bird with stripes on its face" to "I saw a bird with a white supercilium and a black eye-line, and it had a dark malar stripe". All bird guides use really similar terminology.

---

I got out birding today! I was pleased to find the Dickcissels are out in full force, flocking together getting ready to migrate. I saw a group of at least 50 individuals. They're super territorial during the breeding season but apparently they buddy-up to migrate.



And I have been seeing a lot of Ruby-throated hummingbirds lately, especially since I hung a feeder in the yard yesterday! We had visitors immediately (I'm talking like 30 seconds immediately).

I saw this female while birding on the prairie. I saw 6 individuals feeding on Liatris (Gayfeathers).



Also saw Bell's Vireos, Brown Thrashers, American Goldfinches, Eastern Meadowlarks and a few others, but nothing unusual.

800peepee51doodoo
Mar 1, 2001

Volute the swarth, trawl betwixt phonotic
Scoff the festune

InternetJunky posted:

If you ever make it up to Alberta, Canada during the winter I'd be happy to introduce you to "my" owls.

I would love to take you up on this sometime!


razz posted:

So much of being able to identify a bird is knowing what to look for (such as relative bill size difference with Downy and Hairy woodpeckers). Bill size and shape is a good thing to note - does the bird have a thick chunky bill like a sparrow, or a thin pointy bill like a warbler? Or maybe it has a wide triangular bill like a flycatcher?

How did it fly (if you saw it fly)? Was it a straight path or a bobbing, undulating flight? Were the wings rounded or were they long and narrow?

Did you note any interesting colors or patterns on the bird? Stripe over the eye, stripe through the eye, white bar(s) across the wings? What about the tail, is it square or pointed? Was the tail notched? Etc, etc. Just try and quickly note a few key features if you can, then you can look it up later.

This is one of the key things, GISS - General Impression of Size and Shape, that is incredibly helpful once you've developed a basic vocabulary for the birds in your area. I am not a super pro birder by any stretch, I've only been doing this for a few years, but once I started focusing on shape and size I got much better at ID'ing quicker and more accurately. All the grizzled old birders with their ancient WWII era porro-prisms had to rely on this method pretty much exclusively before our halcyon days of HD Fluorite optics came about and we could make out eyerings and primary projections on flycatchers.

Another extremely helpful bit of advice I was given early on is to know the common birds, and know them well. Know that 90 something percent of hawks you see will be red tails. Know what they look like and how they act and you will immediately know when something different soars overhead. Looking out over a mudflat filled with 46 billion Western and Least Sandpipers? If you know them well then that one Pectoral Sandpiper mixed in the crowd will pop right out at you. Just this morning I was looking out over our yard at the normal compliment of house finches, house sparrows, goldfinches and chickadees and one bird in the group immediately looked out of place. It caught my attention because it wasn't one of the familiar species and I was able to ID a female Black Headed Grosbeak, a first in my yard.

This may be too much for most people and maybe I'm a nerd but something else that's been really helpful to me is to flip through your field guide whenever you've got some downtime. Just look at the pictures and read the names and try to see which species live in your area. You'd be surprised at what you pick up through casually perusing the field guide. I remember the first time I saw a Townsend's Warbler I totally surprised myself by knowing what it was and saying it out loud before I was really even cognizant of it.

EPICAC
Mar 23, 2001

razz posted:

The US actually has some pretty harsh wildlife laws. It's illegal for you to have any part of any bird that is protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (which is like 99% of all species here) unless you have special permission, such as being affiliated with a university, research institution, or have Native American heritage.

My wife is a registered member of the Fort Peck tribes, and she has an eagle feather back at her parents' house. I only recently got into birding so I never got her to show it to me. I'll have to take a look next time we head out to visit.

Pablo Bluth
Sep 7, 2007

I've made a huge mistake.
I'm more of a Wildlife photographer than a birder, but a UK goon checking in. I have to say those of you in the New World have it easy; your birds are way less timid.

Ospreys are mostly likely seen 100m on a reserve, and you're not allowed any closer. Our Golden eagles go out of their way to avoid human activity, so if you are lucky enough to see one it'll be a far away speck soaring high above the most remote parts of Scotland. Plus I'm jealous of your wilderness. Living in the south east of England, I basically have access to urban areas, farmland, or carefully managed natures reserves in which you're under strict orders to stay to well-trodden paths.

Not to mention your wolves, coyotes, bears, beavers,.... Our landed gentry shot all of ours.

800peepee51doodoo
Mar 1, 2001

Volute the swarth, trawl betwixt phonotic
Scoff the festune

Pablo Bluth posted:

Plus I'm jealous of your wilderness.

You know, it took moving to Oregon to really appreciate just how much wilderness we have here. I lived in southern California my whole life and just assumed that the entire country was a paved over suburban strip mall hellscape. Turns out the western US has a lot of natural areas that are still pretty well protected. And big!

Pablo Bluth posted:

Not to mention your wolves,

Yeah about that...

Knockknees
Dec 21, 2004

sprung out fully formed
Another thing I learned just googling bird stuff in my area: just west of Chicago there is a small area spanning 2 counties that typically has 4-5 breeding pairs of Swainson's Hawk.

This is the only population East of the Mississippi, hundreds of miles from any other breeding spots! No one knows what the reason for them being there is (a small group blown by a storm, and managed to keep coming back to breed? The natural range used to extend that far?), or how much they may or may not genetically diverge from the main population. All we know is that someone noticed them in the 70's and they've been coming back ever since.

I drive through that area fairly regularly, and even though their season is ending now, I'll be keeping my eyes open next summer!

Knockknees fucked around with this message at 21:14 on Sep 6, 2013

Maker Of Shoes
Sep 4, 2006

AWWWW YISSSSSSSSSS
DIS IS MAH JAM!!!!!!

InternetJunky posted:

I got into birding through photography and can't be the only one.

This is me. :)

I got into photography because it's what my father did. Accidentally got some great shots of water fowl and I was hooked on getting the action shots. Thankfully it turned into a mix of birding and shooting. Now I don't mind dragging 20 pounds of gear to the middle of nowhere and not getting a shot if I at least got to see and check off some great bird finds.

Pablo Bluth
Sep 7, 2007

I've made a huge mistake.

800peepee51doodoo posted:

You know, it took moving to Oregon to really appreciate just how much wilderness we have here. I lived in southern California my whole life and just assumed that the entire country was a paved over suburban strip mall hellscape. Turns out the western US has a lot of natural areas that are still pretty well protected. And big!

For comparison, here is a depressing look at the lack of wilderness in Britain/Europe. If you squint there's a bit in Scotland.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21847507

Kawalimus
Jan 17, 2008

Better Living Through Birding And Pessimism
Great warbler migration today in Baltimore MD. Cold front, clear skies last night with NNE winds was a recipe for an amazing day and it didn't disappoint. With limited time to work with I managed 14 warbler species(there were much more than this) plus Least Flycatcher, Scarlet Tanager, Baltimore Oriole, Brown Thrasher. Had absolutely tons of some kinds of the warblers. I don't think I can ever tire of migrant warblers. They're just so much fun to find and look at.

Moon Potato
May 12, 2003

I'll wade into this conversation as a nature photographer/cinematographer. I'm in the middle of starting up a nature documentary nonprofit in Humboldt county (way-northern coastal California), and am preparing for a bird-centric feature documentary about the Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary. I came to this thread looking for resources on bird behavior, and I see that the Sibley Guide to Bird Life & Behavior was already recommended here - are there any other good books or online reference materials for behavior, or is that pretty much the best I can do short of consulting experts?

At the moment, I'm looking for an explanation of the white-tailed kites' behavior. The juveniles from the two breeding pairs in the immediate area started leaving the nest about 5 or 6 weeks ago, and have recently become proficient enough at hunting that their parents are no longer giving them voles and mice. The juveniles have been half-heartedly fighting with each other and trying to steal each other's food for some time, but in the past few days the parents have started attacking their own children. It's not as vicious as when the adults fight over territory during mating season - there's no locking claws and spiraling downward until one kite is hurled into the ground right now - but I've witnessed several claws-out passes at the juveniles and some mild contact. Are the adults trying to drive the juveniles off to find their own territory now? Are they trying to toughen up their children so they don't get bullied by the local harrier?

Kawalimus
Jan 17, 2008

Better Living Through Birding And Pessimism
There's also Pete Dunne's Essential Field Guide Companion, if that's the sort of thing you're looking for. It's got no pictures and is all based on behavior, cohabitants, habitat.

BetterLekNextTime
Jul 22, 2008

It's all a matter of perspective...
Grimey Drawer
There's always Birds of North America Online. It's the "full" version of the All About Birds accounts. Requires subscription, but you can often get a year's access for joining your local Audubon society or the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Also most university libraries have institutional subscriptions so if you have library access (or can borrow a friend's proxy), you can get it for free.

Moon Potato
May 12, 2003

Kawalimus posted:

There's also Pete Dunne's Essential Field Guide Companion, if that's the sort of thing you're looking for. It's got no pictures and is all based on behavior, cohabitants, habitat.

Thanks, that's exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for. I'm approaching the nature documentary field from a background in film, and while I am working on building relationships with the local Audubon Society chapter, the local university and individual researchers, it helps to have abundant and detailed information at my fingertips when I want it.

BetterLekNextTime posted:

There's always Birds of North America Online. It's the "full" version of the All About Birds accounts. Requires subscription, but you can often get a year's access for joining your local Audubon society or the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Also most university libraries have institutional subscriptions so if you have library access (or can borrow a friend's proxy), you can get it for free.
That looks pretty helpful, too. I'm already going to be making liberal use of the HSU library, so I'll see if they have a subscription.

Moon Potato fucked around with this message at 22:45 on Sep 6, 2013

BeastOfExmoor
Aug 19, 2003

I will be gone, but not forever.

BetterLekNextTime posted:

There's always Birds of North America Online. It's the "full" version of the All About Birds accounts. Requires subscription, but you can often get a year's access for joining your local Audubon society or the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Also most university libraries have institutional subscriptions so if you have library access (or can borrow a friend's proxy), you can get it for free.

Yea, I was going to say BNA as well. I'm lucky enough that the Seattle library system has a subscription and allows anyone with a library card to login through their proxy. It is very much from a scientific perspective so while you may be able to find out what percentage of x species diet consists of spiders it may leave you guessing at where the heck you might find that species in a given area.

I wish we had WT Kites here. They expanded north and actually ventured into the Puget Sound area on rare occasions for a few years, but they completely retreated about a decade ago. Amazing birds.

edit: Field Guide Companion is really good for that "where to find a bird and what it will be doing when you find it" sort of thing. It's cheapish used on Amazon.

BeastOfExmoor fucked around with this message at 22:47 on Sep 6, 2013

800peepee51doodoo
Mar 1, 2001

Volute the swarth, trawl betwixt phonotic
Scoff the festune
Yeah, doesn't Humboldt have a pretty steller wildlife department? You might approach someone there through the local Audubon and try to get an interview or something.

Oh and does the Arcata marsh host white-tails year round? We get them periodically in Oregon and I've never managed to find one here. I do drive through California fairly regularly, though, and that would make a nice stop...

Moon Potato
May 12, 2003

800peepee51doodoo posted:

Yeah, doesn't Humboldt have a pretty steller wildlife department? You might approach someone there through the local Audubon and try to get an interview or something.

Oh and does the Arcata marsh host white-tails year round? We get them periodically in Oregon and I've never managed to find one here. I do drive through California fairly regularly, though, and that would make a nice stop...

Yes, HSU is great with forestry/zoology/etc. Once all the organizational documents are in place for the nonprofit, I'm going to be approaching the head of their biological sciences department about collaborating on projects and recruiting for our board of directors (right now we have directors with a background in the arts and in environmental law/policy, but nobody specializing directly in the sciences).

I'm pretty sure the kites stay at Arcata Marsh year-round. I've been filming there off and on since January, and they've been there the whole time. There are two breeding pairs hunting there this year, although one of them nested on private property, so they've been a bit harder to observe. I also see kites hunting in the fields all around Humboldt Bay pretty frequently, so this whole general area is a great place to see them. I have an extra bedroom in which I'm happy to host serious photographers/researchers/nature enthusiasts when my second cameraman isn't staying over, so feel free to PM me before you head down next time (BeastOfExmoor too, if you ever head down this way).

Moon Potato fucked around with this message at 01:48 on Sep 7, 2013

Pablo Bluth
Sep 7, 2007

I've made a huge mistake.

BeastOfExmoor posted:

I wish we had WT Kites here. They expanded north and actually ventured into the Puget Sound area on rare occasions for a few years, but they completely retreated about a decade ago. Amazing birds.
Red Kites are a success story here in Britain. They were doing pretty terrible and were at risk of extinction; by the 1970s they were restricted to a small, undisclosed range in Wales. They've now bounced back, aided by some reintroduction programmes, and have greatly expanded their range. I'm rather fond of them, mainly because they're our largest raptor that has any sort of tolerance to people.

http://www.bto.org/about-birds/bird-of-month/red-kite

Sparowe
Jun 27, 2010

Like a bird on the wire...
Thanks to BetterLekNextTime for directing me here from the birding photography thread! It's great seeing that there are goons into birding. In my years of lurking and then finally getting an account, I always wondered if there were others here into this "nerdy" hobby, that a lot of people typically expect older folk with too much time and money to be into.

I've always had an interest in the avian species as a whole (particularly birds of the columbidae clade - pigeons and doves), and after falling ill, my partner introduced me to this world I had no idea existed. An entire community of people who all shared a love for the species as a whole, and wanted to continue learning, tracking, and conserving.

Birding has become a healthy obsession for me and has helped me through what have been a very dark 10 months. I began listing (Rock-hopper Penguin being the first tick - a rarity down here in South Africa), and refuse to list anything I haven't seen within a month and haven't observed for at least 1 minute. I'll only tick if 99.99% sure on the ID.

In short - birding has given me hope in a life that isn't really too full of it right now.

The big names in birding down here have also been amazing people to meet, and while being competitive and sarcastic pricks most of the time, are simply passionate and always willing to help. One in particular offering to drive us out of the city to twitch a wandering Marabou Stork earlier this year after our car died. Typically, birders are just awesome people.

I'll definitely be watching and contributing to this thread!

razz
Dec 26, 2005

Queen of Maceration
23 Things Going On Inside The Mind Of A Birder

http://www.buzzfeed.com/katienotopoulos/23-things-going-on-inside-the-mind-of-a-birder





It's actually pretty funny/accurate :)

December Octopodes
Dec 25, 2008

Christmas is coming
the squid is getting fat!
This seems like a cool thread, I have a couple of questions.

First, big question, what's the word?

Secondly, with the bad joke done what happens in cases like the Ivory-billed woodpecker? There were rumored sightings, but does the lack of follow up make you inclined to think it's completely extinct?

BetterLekNextTime
Jul 22, 2008

It's all a matter of perspective...
Grimey Drawer

December Octopodes posted:

This seems like a cool thread, I have a couple of questions.

First, big question, what's the word?

Secondly, with the bad joke done what happens in cases like the Ivory-billed woodpecker? There were rumored sightings, but does the lack of follow up make you inclined to think it's completely extinct?

With the Ivory-billed, it's definitely been a roller-coaster. Everyone thought it was extinct. It's possible that the sightings were of the last super-old birds that died. I've not been to either the Arkansas or Florida sites, but apparently it is super hard terrain and it's not impossible the birds are still there. That said, you'd think that with all the effort someone would have come up with hard evidence. I know some of the people who were heading up those searches (and who saw the birds), and I do trust their sightings. However, they (esp Cornell) invested so much prestige in the search that even if they were wrong about it, they would have a hard time admitting it. It would have been really cool if they were still alive, but even with such a small population there long-term persistence would have been really perilous.

EVG
Dec 17, 2005

If I Saw It, Here's How It Happened.

Knockknees posted:

Some google searching has shown me, that not only is there a specific spot in Chicago that gets lots of birds, there is one specific HEDGE in this park where all the birds hide out. Geez!

http://www.lakecookaudubon.org/Montrose_Point.html

Hey, I came in to ask if any of the resident birders had checked this place out!

Sadly, Montrose Point has an even bigger reputation as a gay sex meetup place than as a bird sanctuary. Not that the gay part bothers me, but the tons of public indecency reports (often during the day when there are little kids around at the beach or in the harbor) and tales of coming across (har) used condoms in the bird sanctuary - often along the areas where you are not supposed to walk - bothers me. :(

Even so, I'd love to check it out since I live roughly 3 blocks away. I know someone said that the brand of binoculars doesn't really matter, but any recommendations for a cheapish set you can get off Amazon? Not sure if birding is for me (I love the idea but may not have the patience) so I'd prefer not to invest too much at first.

ExecuDork
Feb 25, 2007

We might be fucked, sir.
Fallen Rib
My binoculars are Bushnells, a brand that I think is well-regarded; in any case, I'm happy with them. 8x42 (that's decent magnification and big enough at the light-gathering end they're fairly bright) and waterproof / very rugged (I've dropped them into all sorts of wet and rocky places, no damage yet!). They cost me $100 about 5 years ago.

Early in this thread there was a recommendation to spend $200-$300 on binos. In my knee-jerk reaction opinion, that's too much. Find a waterproof pair for $100-$150. I don't know why they even make non-waterproof binoculars, what's the point in having them if you can't take them outside except on perfect, sunny days?

Pestilent Liebe
Jun 17, 2004

The mousy girl screams, "Violence! Violence!"

Pablo Bluth posted:

I'm more of a Wildlife photographer than a birder, but a UK goon checking in. I have to say those of you in the New World have it easy; your birds are way less timid.

Ospreys are mostly likely seen 100m on a reserve, and you're not allowed any closer. Our Golden eagles go out of their way to avoid human activity, so if you are lucky enough to see one it'll be a far away speck soaring high above the most remote parts of Scotland. Plus I'm jealous of your wilderness. Living in the south east of England, I basically have access to urban areas, farmland, or carefully managed natures reserves in which you're under strict orders to stay to well-trodden paths.

Not to mention your wolves, coyotes, bears, beavers,.... Our landed gentry shot all of ours.

You guys have some amazing marine birds (my personal fave) and adorable waxwings. Not to mention foxes and pet barn owls!

I went from having easy access to the Salton Sea flyway to not knowing where the gently caress to go other than Central Park in NYC. There is too much people traffic at the park to make it worthwhile. Any remote suggestions?

Also, having just stumbled upon this thread, I remembered how awesome sage grouses are and that amazing "plop" noise they make. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0M8pZnNlnI

InternetJunky
May 25, 2002

Had an amazing weekend birding, finding 12 lifers including this super rare (for Alberta) Parasitic Jaeger.



On the way down to try and find the Jaeger we came across a Peregrine Falcon with a freshly-killed pigeon. We parked our car very far back, but he was not happy to be interrupted and flew a circle around us coming a bit too close to the highway for my comfort, so we got the hell out of there. His fly-by did net us a nice picture though:

Knockknees
Dec 21, 2004

sprung out fully formed

EVG posted:

Hey, I came in to ask if any of the resident birders had checked this place out!

Well, I can give a trip report of this weekend.

We got there at 6:30 am and didn't see any condoms or signs of hook-ups so that was nice. We did see a gorgeous sunrise and had the wood/meadow part to ourselves for 20 or 30 minutes, as most of the early people were out on the water's edge.

By 7:00 am there were enough dorks with binoculars around that you would be staring up into the trees and bump into someone around every bend. And then they'd ask you if you saw anything good. When it started to get crowded I felt more self conscious and less ~one with nature~.

We didn't see anything particularly noteworthy, but that could be because all small olive colored birds look exactly the same to me and there were tons of those. Then again, no experience here, so I wouldn't spy a warbler if it was singing its heart out right in front of me. However, we did spy a fox sleeping deep in a thicket when we were scanning the hedge with our bins, so that was neat.

El Perkele
Nov 7, 2002

I HAVE SHIT OPINIONS ON STAR WARS MOVIES!!!

I can't even call the right one bad.

ExecuDork posted:

My binoculars are Bushnells, a brand that I think is well-regarded; in any case, I'm happy with them. 8x42 (that's decent magnification and big enough at the light-gathering end they're fairly bright) and waterproof / very rugged (I've dropped them into all sorts of wet and rocky places, no damage yet!). They cost me $100 about 5 years ago.

Early in this thread there was a recommendation to spend $200-$300 on binos. In my knee-jerk reaction opinion, that's too much. Find a waterproof pair for $100-$150. I don't know why they even make non-waterproof binoculars, what's the point in having them if you can't take them outside except on perfect, sunny days?

I really, REALLY suggest anyone who is interested in good picture and long durability to invest in good (=expensive) binoculars. Nikon Monarch series is usually considered great value (comes at about 300$), as are Hawke ED Frontiers (about 550$) - with these, the picture quality, durability or longevity are not limiting factors. They also pack a punch above their price level and can beat more expensive older roof prisms quite often in different tests and field use - which is really good, since we had a long period when we lacked high-quality low-price field suitable binocs. I find Hawkes a bit cumbersome and they're not very suitable to combined bird-butterfly-dragonfly hobby, but they are nonetheless great binoculars.

Pretty much every model that runs over 400$ is hermetically sealed and has lens coating. If you are super-serious about birding, then obvious choice is to invest in high-end binoculars, since with them there is even less chance that you miss an ID due to technological limits.

I use old Swarovski AT80HD 20-60x as my scope and Swaro EL 8x32 as my binoculars. The combination is expensive, but lasts long (scope has served me for 14 years and still going strong, I assume the binoculars will run 10+ years easily without need to update) and I rarely encounter situations where my equipment leaves me lacking. Usually it's the talents or the situation that causes trouble. Of course, you have to be very serious about birding if making such an investment. I also have Pentax Papilio 8,5x21 as my summer/work insect binoculars. They are... good for their price, but the FoV is narrow, performance in suboptimal lighting is unsatisfactory, construct is a bit shoddy and they are not sealed at all.

Investing in good, high-quality binoculars is a good, long-term choice that pays off every time you're birding.

Balaeniceps
May 29, 2010
Thought I’d chime in as another UK birder. I’m generally interested in natural history and tend to go down a route of botany and entomology in the summer but birding is where I started out and is definitely my main interest in the winter when everything else is dead/hibernating. I can probably answer some questions about the UK birding and twitching scenes.

One of the things I don’t like about the hobby in general is that birding is still heavily the preserve of middle-aged men. Is it the same in America?

Pablo Bluth posted:

I'm more of a Wildlife photographer than a birder, but a UK goon checking in. I have to say those of you in the New World have it easy; your birds are way less timid.

Ospreys are mostly likely seen 100m on a reserve, and you're not allowed any closer. Our Golden eagles go out of their way to avoid human activity, so if you are lucky enough to see one it'll be a far away speck soaring high above the most remote parts of Scotland. Plus I'm jealous of your wilderness. Living in the south east of England, I basically have access to urban areas, farmland, or carefully managed natures reserves in which you're under strict orders to stay to well-trodden paths.

Not to mention your wolves, coyotes, bears, beavers,.... Our landed gentry shot all of ours.

Hello fellow south-east UK birder! There are some great sites in the south east. You kinda have to adjust your expectations away from “wild” and more towards “feral” where once settled land is slowly going wild again through neglect. Feral land is everywhere but particularly along the Essex and north Kent coasts and the Thames estuary. Bits of it are surprisingly sparsely inhabited given how close it is to London. You won’t get away from human influence; it’s a very flat windswept landscape and there’s always derelict buildings and WW2 defenses that are visible from miles away let alone the ever-present sea walls. But the birds don’t care, that they’re left alone is what’s important to them, so in winter you get to see massive wader and duck/goose aggregations (and the raptors those kinds of numbers pull in).

I’d try checking out the Isle of Sheppey (Elmley marshes and Harty Ferry raptor viewpoint in particular), the Dengie Peninsula in Essex (you’ll need to walk lots down the coastal tracks) or the Hoo Peninsula in Kent (my personal fave). If you go to Hoo: check out Cliffe Pools for ducks, grebes & roosting waders, Northward Hill for high views over the peninsula, a massive heronry in spring and an incredible, noisy rook & jackdaw roost at dusk in winter (they don’t settle properly for ages and burst into the air en masse – a few thousand corvids whirling around over your head); and the shoreline at low tide (St. Mary’s and Egypt Bays in particular both just north of Northward Hill) for some pretty impressive collections of waders. You won’t get very close to the birds given how open the land is but you can see nature unfold without disturbance; watching a merlin spearing through a starling flock here is one of my favourite memories.

BeastOfExmoor
Aug 19, 2003

I will be gone, but not forever.

ExecuDork posted:

My binoculars are Bushnells, a brand that I think is well-regarded; in any case, I'm happy with them. 8x42 (that's decent magnification and big enough at the light-gathering end they're fairly bright) and waterproof / very rugged (I've dropped them into all sorts of wet and rocky places, no damage yet!). They cost me $100 about 5 years ago.

Early in this thread there was a recommendation to spend $200-$300 on binos. In my knee-jerk reaction opinion, that's too much. Find a waterproof pair for $100-$150. I don't know why they even make non-waterproof binoculars, what's the point in having them if you can't take them outside except on perfect, sunny days?

Bushnell drives me nuts because they make about a billion different levels of bins, from $12 to $500 Elites. I've heard good things about their Legend series, but they make so many more bad low-end models than good ones that I have a hard time recommending them as a brand.

Coming from photography where there are rarely more than a couple decent lenses that fit into any given category it was really, really daunting trying to pick out binoculars. Want a pair of 8x42 roof prism binoculars? Here's 100 options. That doesn't even count porro prism models.

I can't say I've looked through a pair of Monarchs many times, but they are basically the go-to binoculars in their price range. For the same money you might find a boutique brand that outperforms them in some way or another, but that often means ordering online without ever being able to compare in person. Zeiss has a pair in that price range now as well. The Vanguard Endeavor ED's have won Bird Watcher's Digest's shootout a couple years in a row and can be found in the low $200's after rebates from time to time.


InternetJunky posted:

Had an amazing weekend birding, finding 12 lifers including this super rare (for Alberta) Parasitic Jaeger.




I hate to say it, but is that photo supposed to be of the Jaeger? Looks like a 100% match for a juvenile Ring-Billed Gull to me. I spent a morning in a thunderstorm looking for Jaegers last week. I finally gave up when the thunder stopped sounding like distant rumbling and instead sounded like the crack of a gunshot. Probably not a good time to be carrying a big tripod.

InternetJunky
May 25, 2002

BeastOfExmoor posted:

I hate to say it, but is that photo supposed to be of the Jaeger? Looks like a 100% match for a juvenile Ring-Billed Gull to me. I spent a morning in a thunderstorm looking for Jaegers last week. I finally gave up when the thunder stopped sounding like distant rumbling and instead sounded like the crack of a gunshot. Probably not a good time to be carrying a big tripod.
I'm fairly sure it's a juvenile Parasitic Jaeger. Here's a poorer shot of the top of the bird showing the much darker colouring:


The bird was about 1.5 times the size of any of the other gulls in the area.

My ID is based on other people's posts about the same bird, so I hope they got it right. I'm hardly an expert on the subject!

Maker Of Shoes
Sep 4, 2006

AWWWW YISSSSSSSSSS
DIS IS MAH JAM!!!!!!

InternetJunky posted:

His fly-by did net us a nice picture though:



Since you didn't post this in the bird photography thread I'm going to swoon at you here.

HHHHHNNNNNNGGGGGGG :fap:

El Perkele
Nov 7, 2002

I HAVE SHIT OPINIONS ON STAR WARS MOVIES!!!

I can't even call the right one bad.

InternetJunky posted:

I'm fairly sure it's a juvenile Parasitic Jaeger. Here's a poorer shot of the top of the bird showing the much darker colouring:


The bird was about 1.5 times the size of any of the other gulls in the area.

My ID is based on other people's posts about the same bird, so I hope they got it right. I'm hardly an expert on the subject!

It's a gull, in Europe I would say Herring sp. Jaegers show large white patches on the underside of primaries and pale shafts on the uppersides; also the upperside coloration is different.

Here's Arctic, two 1cy (pale and dark morph) http://tarsiger.com/gallery/index.php?pic_id=Dick1314858877&lang=eng

razz
Dec 26, 2005

Queen of Maceration

Balaeniceps posted:

One of the things I don’t like about the hobby in general is that birding is still heavily the preserve of middle-aged men. Is it the same in America?

That's kind of hard to say. I would guess it depends a lot on your location and who you choose to bird with.

I started seriously (well, as serious as I've ever been about it) birding when I was in grad school. I was suddenly surrounded by lots of people in the mid 20s - mid 30s age range who were also into birds. So most of the people I bird with are around my age. I also go on birding trips occasionally that are led by some of the faculty members there - and those groups consist overwhelmingly of undergrads and maybe a couple additional older faculty members and/or grad students.

Every Christmas Bird Count I've been on was a mix of people my age and older people. There are also quite a few older women that are into birding, it's not just "old men". But since I live(d) in a college town, and my college has a pretty big ag/biology program, it makes sense that there would be more younger birders around. A lot of the younger people who go on the regular bird walks are students who took the Ornithology class and just continued doing the bird walks even after the class is over. I'm not sure if he's doing it right now but my adviser (and the instructor for the course) led an open-invitation bird walk to various spots around town every Tuesday. Anyone can go, just meet in the parking lot at 7:30 with binoculars :). And again, that is mostly undergrads and some grad students.

I have only ever been on one birding trip where I was the only young person there, and it was when I went on a bird walk with a visiting speaker when I was an undergrad. And I still had a good time! I don't really care who or how old the people I bird with are. What I really don't like is birding in really big groups. I'd say 4-6 people is a good group for birding. More than that and it starts getting crowded, the people in front see birds that the people in back miss, etc.

That being said probably 95% of the time, I bird alone or just with my husband. He's not into birds like I am but he likes to go hiking with me sometimes and is getting pretty good with his bird ID! He said he never really looked at birds before we met, now he can ID most of the common ones in our area.

InternetJunky
May 25, 2002

El Perkele posted:

It's a gull, in Europe I would say Herring sp. Jaegers show large white patches on the underside of primaries and pale shafts on the uppersides; also the upperside coloration is different.

Here's Arctic, two 1cy (pale and dark morph) http://tarsiger.com/gallery/index.php?pic_id=Dick1314858877&lang=eng
That's disappointing. Based on the size I was sure I had the right bird!

BeastOfExmoor
Aug 19, 2003

I will be gone, but not forever.

I can only speak for my location as well, but I'd say that it's quite a mix of people here in the the northwestern part of the US. It's pretty evenly split between men and women, but it certainly trends older. I'm 32 and I can probably count the birders I've met locally that were younger than me on one hand. That said, it doesn't bother me too much since at this point in my life I have more in common with someone who's 42 than 22.

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BetterLekNextTime
Jul 22, 2008

It's all a matter of perspective...
Grimey Drawer

Balaeniceps posted:



One of the things I don’t like about the hobby in general is that birding is still heavily the preserve of middle-aged men. Is it the same in America?




I'd say it definitely skews middle-aged and older, but overall there's not much of a sex bias. However, I've seen some recent articles about how the bigwigs are almost 100% men (by looking at things like the make-up of bird records committees- the people who decide whether some rare bird was actually what someone thought it was). It was kind of an interesting discussion, basically how there's still quite a bit of lingering sexism in the field plus in general women not being quite as assertive/confident/overconfident about their birding skills (more likely to qualify their observations with "I think it was a", etc).

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