Thursday, January 27, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
Birding in the subarctic
East Central Minnesota isn't really the subarctic, but our area has had its share of record-breaking snow and low temperatures this year. So I've become more of an arm-chair birder for the present.
Most of the live birds I see are at the feeder on the deck. The crowd is made up of the usual suspects -four species of woodpeckers, dark-eyed juncos, white-breasted nuthatches, chickadees, and an occasional blue jay.
The other day I was surprised to see a northern shrike perching on the roof of the feeder for a fraction of a minute. I guess it was just passing through because I haven't seen it since. But I'm glad it tarried here because it was the first time I saw this species and so I added it to my list.
Now my bookshelf provides a little armchair birding. Most of my bird books are field guides which provide me with a chance to refresh my knowledge for next summer.
The most prolific source of armchair birding experiences is the internet. Here I find pictures of birds by professionals and amateurs. And I find pictures of birds in many poses shot from various angles. And internet birds appear in seasonal plumage the way it really looks. One of the great things about the bird photos on the internet is that many of them deviate widely from the perfectly posed birds in perfectly colored peak plumage that we see in the field guides. That's not a put-down for field guides. The reality is a field guide has to represent a huge amount of information in a very limited space. But the internet is virtually infinite in extent and is populated by hordes of picture-making birders. So the birds of the internet provide me with the challenge of recognizing a species in many guises. It's great exercise for my bird brain.
Beyond this internet birding provides an element not found in any book. Live action. That's video of birds doing what birds do best - bird behaviors. Watching behavior is how we get to really know and understand any animal. It's the ultimate familiarity.
So where are some good electronic birding hot spots? Since we're in Minnesota why not start at the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union, moumn.org. Birds.com, wildbirds.com, whatbird.com, and allaboutbirds.org are all excellent sites. Audubon.org is the portal to a whole world of birds and birding. Just put the word "birds" in your browser and you'll have a plethora of leads. If you want to go birding in the wild just go to Flickr.com or any other photo sharing site and enter the name of a bird in the search box. These links can supply you with an entire winter of birding adventure and then some.
I'll wrap up with the video link that started my thinking about this posting. It was sent to me by Betsy Beneke, Visitor Services Manager at Sherburne NWR. I haven't seen the featured bird but when I do I'll already have some familiarity with its behavior.
http://www.youtube.com/labofornithology#p/u/30/1NvU8WG9bg0
Most of the live birds I see are at the feeder on the deck. The crowd is made up of the usual suspects -four species of woodpeckers, dark-eyed juncos, white-breasted nuthatches, chickadees, and an occasional blue jay.
The other day I was surprised to see a northern shrike perching on the roof of the feeder for a fraction of a minute. I guess it was just passing through because I haven't seen it since. But I'm glad it tarried here because it was the first time I saw this species and so I added it to my list.
Now my bookshelf provides a little armchair birding. Most of my bird books are field guides which provide me with a chance to refresh my knowledge for next summer.
The most prolific source of armchair birding experiences is the internet. Here I find pictures of birds by professionals and amateurs. And I find pictures of birds in many poses shot from various angles. And internet birds appear in seasonal plumage the way it really looks. One of the great things about the bird photos on the internet is that many of them deviate widely from the perfectly posed birds in perfectly colored peak plumage that we see in the field guides. That's not a put-down for field guides. The reality is a field guide has to represent a huge amount of information in a very limited space. But the internet is virtually infinite in extent and is populated by hordes of picture-making birders. So the birds of the internet provide me with the challenge of recognizing a species in many guises. It's great exercise for my bird brain.
Beyond this internet birding provides an element not found in any book. Live action. That's video of birds doing what birds do best - bird behaviors. Watching behavior is how we get to really know and understand any animal. It's the ultimate familiarity.
So where are some good electronic birding hot spots? Since we're in Minnesota why not start at the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union, moumn.org. Birds.com, wildbirds.com, whatbird.com, and allaboutbirds.org are all excellent sites. Audubon.org is the portal to a whole world of birds and birding. Just put the word "birds" in your browser and you'll have a plethora of leads. If you want to go birding in the wild just go to Flickr.com or any other photo sharing site and enter the name of a bird in the search box. These links can supply you with an entire winter of birding adventure and then some.
I'll wrap up with the video link that started my thinking about this posting. It was sent to me by Betsy Beneke, Visitor Services Manager at Sherburne NWR. I haven't seen the featured bird but when I do I'll already have some familiarity with its behavior.
http://www.youtube.com/labofornithology#p/u/30/1NvU8WG9bg0
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