Activity 1: I have tried taking field notes in the past, but I find it hard to juggle with the binoculars and keeping an eye on what is going on. I think that I prefer to enjoy watching the birds in the moment, and then note what I have seen afterwards.

Activity 1: I try to take pictures of unidentified birds whenever possible, but my phone camera isn’t great for things that aren’t up close. Writing down details will definitely be helpful when it comes to identifying and I’ll be sure to do so the next time I see anything I don’t recognize.

 

Activity 2: I would sign up for my county’s rare bird email list, but unfortunately I only check my email occasionally so any bird would likely be gone by the time I find out about it. I just check the eBird page every so often instead. I also do Project FeederWatch and will be participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count and the local Audubon’s Winter Bird Survey.

Activity 1: I bought a journal and I take field notes daily. I keep a list of birds I have identified both on my feeders and those on Live Feed at Cornell.  I put in my e bird sightings at the end of each day, as I find it hard to manage the app and stay present when birding. I have used Merlin to help me identify. I also am part of project bird feeder.

Activity 1: I found I’m more comfortable taking really bad photographs with my phone of the birds after I have found them using my binoculars and recorded them in the eBird app. My phone’s camera isn’t as powerful as my binoculars, but I always get the basic color of the birds, and the setting, and since my phone puts metadata with the pictures saying the time and place I can pair it with my checklists on eBird. I did try sketching and writing notes, but the problem with both is I wonder how much detail is too much, or too little. I did see a Cooper’s Hawk and took the time to sketch it’s tail, since that was mostly what I was using to determine what it was, but I only think that’s helpful if I know what part of the bird is important for determining what species it is.

Activity 2: I set up eBird alerts for my state and county, and have noticed that most of the state alerts are from an area 4 hours south of me. I also know there is a lot of birdwatching in the city half an hour to the east of where I live, but getting there is harder than it should be and not something that can be done at the drop of a hat. I’ve decided I will openly wander around local wilderness areas with my binoculars, and hope to come across other interested folks that way.

Activity 1: Notes restructured on 2 birds observed. Bird 1: White-throated Sparrow. Where observed: Backyard. Time of Year: fall. Number observed: 1. Size and Shape: Small rounded body, short neck, short bill. Colors and Patterns: Browns, grays, white. Mottled in tones. Markings: Soft, blurred stripes on upper chest and sides. Bright yellow lores. Bright white supercillium and throat.  Behavior: On ground, foraging. Back-scratching while searching for food. Notes: Frequently seen at feeder late fall through early spring.///// Bird 2: Mallard Where observed: At a fresh water pond. Time of year: fall. Number observed: 8 both males and females. Size and Shape: Duck shaped with large bill. Medium-sized. Not larger than a Canada Goose.  Colors and Patterns:  Male in breeding colors of iridescent green, rust on chest, white belly, grayish back. Females are mottled browns.  Markings: Blue patch on secondary flight feathers sometimes seen when swimming but easily seen in flight. Both males and females have this marking. Males have a white ring around neck and a single curly tail feather. Behavior on observation: Swimming in pond, loose group of males and females. Frequent splashing about which might be interpreted as bathing or some sort of courtship display.





 

Activity 2: My husband and I have been receiving alerts from eBird for my area in New England. We also follow American Bird Association on FaceBook as well as contribute by sharing sightings and photos of birds from recent trips. Finally, we have attended several presentations sponsored by the local ABA chapter on birds in the area. The most recent was on Tyrant Flycatchers.

We have a new birding club in our community that my husband stablished.  Yesterday we went on our first birding adventure to a nearby natural lakes.  Two expert guides came with us. I tried to keep track of the birds I saw using eBird and at the end the three of us got together to check on our lists.  We ended up with a list of 60 species of birds, but I was only able to register about 30 by myself.  Since I am also going over the Nature Journaling and Field Sketching course, I came back to take notes on one of the species we saw, the green kingfisher.  I also drew a picture of the bird in my journal, following one of the pictures I took with my camara.  This is the second time I used eBird to make a list of this same area, the first one done the GBD on May 10 this year.

Activity 1: I use eBird to record my notes and observations. I also upload my finds to iNaturalist. Something I've found over time is that it's become really easy for me to spot unique birds apart from birds I commonly see and also easier for me to quickly identify and count birds I see regularly which gives me more focus when it comes to finding new birds.

I have joined our local Bird Friendly club and went for a Trumpeter Swan count.  I am using eBird and Merlin and love them both.  I have a "bird" book that I write in and keep notes.     I also love getting the rare bird alerts by email.  Thanks.

Previously, I have recorded observations in my bird watching notebook off of amazon. I just downloaded ebird and hope to log my observations there as well. I subscribed to the rare bird alert for my county to hopefully get some better local birding!

I subscribed to the rare bird alert for both my county and state on EBird. I am setting a goal to submit more checklists!

I signed up for the Hudson Mohawk birding club in the Capitol Region of New York State. I am just getting started. The club has a local chat group where people record sightings. Today I had a little time and went out to a nature preserve I hadn’t known about. A club member reported two rough legged hawks. I was there for a half hour and was just about to leave when I spotted a hawk, a real beauty, he seemed to be hunting, flying low and dipping down to the ground. I am not good yet at identification but it was a real thrill. There were a couple other birders there too.

Activity 1: I use a journal to track when I see or hear a bird. It is nothing fancy as I just record what I see and some general information about the birding area, but I enjoy it very much. I find that even when I write things it helps me remember things better and it is fun to have something that tracts my sightings over long periods of times, so I can see how things have changed.

Very good

Activity 1

I have had birdfeeders most of my life and could recognize the most common birds like robins and bluejays.  When I put up my first feeder at my own house, I started recognizing various finches as well. My husband and I have participated in the Cornell Bird Count several times. This spring, I started a nature journal and am taking the nature journaling class along with this course, so I am able to draw (surprise, surprise) what I see as well as take pictures.  It has helped me to pay more attention to the characteristics of the birds and to more accurately identify the birds.  I use Merlin alot.  Here is an example of a journal page.  I include the date, usually time, and weather conditions, in addition to drawings and observations.

I have been using ebird for years but just recently started submitting a checklist per day.  My goal is to bird at all of my local hotspots which ebird has outlined for me.  I find that the more you bird, the better you get, and the more birds you see!  I am excited for the future , taking this courses and future courses and exploring my local areas, and even not so local..tomorrow as a nod to Canada Day I am going to Point Pelee National park to bird!  Ebird tells me that American White Pelicans are there, but Ill be happy to check out the botany and butterflies as well!

Activity 2:  I am signed up for the rare bird alert in my area & get daily notices in my email.  I also follow the "explore" link to see what birds have been seen in local "hotspots" .  It is very interesting to learn what others have seen (or heard) in various locations.  Occasionally I meet a Birder or group of birders gathered to look for a rare bird.  It is great to meet other people who love birds.  But I still don't feel confident about identifying birds without help from Merlin or a birder with more experience.  This course has helped.  I hope some day to be able to record bird sightings on E Bird.

1.  I noticed six black-breasted birds sitting on wires high above the field adjoining our backyard.  They were medium sized birds.  I thought they might be red-winged blackbirds or starlings.  I looked through binoculars at them and saw their orange-tinged beaks.  I thought they were probably starlings, since some come to our feeders.  The Merlin app identified their "song" as starlings.

Another bird on the wire aparat from them was lighter in color--its breast looked almost orange from the glow of the sun on it.  It was larger than the starlings, plumper, and had a small head.  I thought it was a mourning dove or Eurasian collared dove, since some were at our feeder this afternoon.  Merlin identified it as a mourning dove from its song.

I saw a very large, pure white bird land in some trees down the street.  The trees were next to a creek.  It was larger than a Canada goose with a huge wing span and a long neck and long narrow beak.  I guessed that it was a  great white egret, as I had seen some in a nearby nature park.  The field guide matched this description.  However, when I checked on its size compared to a Canada goose, I was surprised to learn that there are several species of Canada geese, and they vary quite a bit in size.  One was larger than the egret, but most were smaller.  I don't know which species I usually see around here.

Activity 1: I had been using eBird to track birds I see and it is convenient since I typically have my phone handy so I don't forget. Since going through this lesson though, I've been keeping a little notebook handy to write down my observations instead. One thing I like about the notebook method is that it is a little faster and I can record behavioral observations together with specifics about the physical characteristics of the birds more quickly.Then when I have time to look it up later, I can verify that I have the right species without missing out on watching the bird or misidentifying what I saw on eBird. I did learn a cool trick while on an Audubon field trip this weekend for simplifying eBird searching: you can search for the 4-letter code for the bird to pull it up faster (e.g., NOCA for Northern Cardinal).

Activity 2 - Joined local bird club today and set up rare bird alert in E-bird for Maryland.  Still very new to birdwatching but enjoying learning more through this course.

Activity 1: When birding at a new location or a location a bird I have never seen before is, I always try to take my camera. I like having pictures of new birds, when I see them for the first time. If I am surprised by a bird I wasn’t expecting, I try to at least take a phone picture of it. Normally for regular birding I make a checklist on the notes app on my phone to keep track of the species I see.

Activity 2: I have looked at the Ebird rare bird alert for my county but before I go looking for rare birds there are still plenty of common birds that I am trying to see first. I look at nearby sightings and then pick locations to bird at where there are birds I still haven’t seen.

I made a checklist not too long-ago taking notes and included a picture and audio of what I saw. I am fascinated by the E-bird capabilities and excited to learn. I've been discussing with some other birders my finding and hopefully setting up a time to go birding as a group.

many of the birds in my area will have a "tell" where you will wonder what it is until you notice something about it. The Spotted Towhee has a distinctive call that my sensei calls "a dying cat call"  its morbid i know but it works or a stellars jay may sound similar to a crow but has a blue body and black head as well as its crest. many of the birds have unique things that I only actually noticed because of my note taking such as a white spot on the back and just above the tail of the spotted towhee that lives in my apple tree.  or a barn swallows orange belly and distinctive way of flying.  I have also asked the person teaching me about birds about any clubs in the area and when i get some reliable free time id really like to sign up and learn about some habitat in the area to see different kinds of birds too.