I like to exercise and walk in the parks. I carry the camera and try to identify the birds using the Merlin App. If I can´t find it , I post the photo on the Facebook group of the Ornithological Association and in a few minutes someone helps me with the ID. And I am learning to sketch the birds that come to my backyard.

Activity 1: I love the idea of keeping a field journal, but I have no artistic ability whatsoever. That being said, I'll be signing up for the field journal course after I finish this one. :-) Activity 2: I joined the Birds of Virginia Facebook group. It has nearly 7,000 members, so I look forward to seeing what people post. PS I also want to participate in an upcoming bird count.

I have joined the Birds in Wisconsin Facebook group. Also I’ve signed up for the e-bird alert emails for my county, both for rare birds and for year needs. It’s fun to read about what others are seeing. It has introduced me to several great spots to go birding!

We spotted a Downy woodpecker while out walking.    My wife and I tried to note the distinguishing characteristics to help with identification:     It was pretty small, less than a robin.   It was only black and white and no red markings so she is a female.   Her beak was black and fairly small compared to the head size.   The chest was all white and no other markings there.    The back was mostly black but several lines of white spots next to each other on her wings. She was upright in a tree branch and definitely searching for food.    Although not loudly drumming she did forcefully put her beak into the branch and seemed to me looking for insects. All these observations made the ID a cinch once I searched for her on Merlin.    It helps to at least say out loud the characteristics and list everything you can think of.      I now know that I really did see a Yellow bellied sapsucker the other day but didn't list enough characteristics to nail the ID at that time.

I do not belong to a birding group but a good friend of mine is teaching and encouraging me in my quest to learn more about our fellow creatures. We try to get out to do the bird count every Feb and May by taking the hiking in Algonquin Park taking trails with a variety of habitats. What a fun day we always have enjoying our friendship, our common interest and our discoveries. 

Saw a Ruffed Grouse a few days ago. Watched it for over an hour, took photos, and also did some field sketches to try and capture the general idea of its shape, as this was the most distinctive part of it, with the small head and large, round body. The field notes were not very helpful for ID because I had photos, but they were an interesting creative opportunity and I see how they could come in handy if I did not have my camera on me.

My daughters and I took the Nature Journaling course that Kevin mentions in one of these lessons.  And when sketching birds that we see, I take as many field notes about observations that I can then later, look up more about the bird.  I might add some facts to the page.   This has helped me immensely in learning how to ID the bird next time and generally about the bird.  And yes, the notes help with the ID.  It's slow going but a super satisfying process for me and one I have shared with my kids.  Merlin is super helpful for the quick ID and have recently added e bird to be able to submit the data.

I looked it up, on the ABA. The American Birding Association. They have rare bird alerts, throughout the USA. For 12-18-20, they have a bird, I have never heard of. Photographed on 12-16-20, it is TUNDRA BEAN GOOSE. From PENN. USA. There was a list, in MA., and one on the list, was a form of Grosbeak. A Cackling Grosbeak. That was listed, recently. I, myself, have seen more of the classical, common birds, that you would see. But I have seen some unique Geese, at a farm, on the North-Shore. I have never seen a bird, that was so rare, as to report it. If I do, I now where to report it. The ABA, and eBird. (this pic., is a Goose, that was on a farm. in Northern Ma.)

I went to a Wildlife refuge, and saw a couple of Great Blue Herons. I was able to see one of them was a darker blue, and one was a lighter blue. I was not sure if it was a different species, other than a Heron. But I looked up on the computer, and google searched, Wikipedia. And saw that there is a few 'forms,' of Heron. I guess there is a 'white,' form. A 'blue,' form. And other forms, that make the Herons, different. But the same species. I have had a tough time, by eye, telling the difference, between Say; Snowy Egrets, and a White Heron, and a White Ibis. But with a field guide, and visual inspection, I can tell them apart.   I now know, what type of beak, to look for. And shape, size, etc.... Although, the Black Crowned Night Heron, threw me off, until I was corrected by a moderator. thx.-b.k.   This, I believe, is a Snowy Egret. I may have mistaken it for a White Heron, but it is clearly not a White Ibis. ?? I dunno ??

When I first began birding late this summer, I would just go out and not keep track of what I saw, becoming more familiar with using my binoculars and getting good sightings of birds, as well as using sound to find birds. Recently, I began keeping a list of birds during each trip with a pen and small note pad, which fits handily in a coat pocket. Writing down observations even regarding species I'm fairly familiar with now has really helped my understanding of birds, their behaviors, and in which kinds of habitats I expected to see different kinds of birds. In a few instances, it has also helped me make an ID without having to reach into my bag and pull out my guide book. Instead, I have been able to maximize the amount of time I spend actually watching the bird, jotting down notes about appearance, habitat, and behavior, then thereafter making an ID. Especially when I get to a "hotspot" where I am seeing and hearing multiple birds at once, I am able to make my observations and enjoy watching the birds for as long as possible, then I make notes before continuing on the trip. The eBird app is a great tool as well. I've begun entering my sightings into eBird and find the database and tracking of my old checklists very useful as I compile a "life list". It has also helped me tremendously in finding new great birding locations, as I can see that frequently visited spots by experienced birders have been highly productive. I didn't even realize just how many great birding spots there are so close to a major city (Boston, MA) until I started using eBird.

I have not gotten into the habit of taking field notes, I started using Merlin pretty much in the beginning and it records the date and location as well as ebird so I have been using that as my memory of seeing the bird, I should probably right down what it was doing for the new birds or any behaviors that I find interesting but I feel like its one more thing to carry haha and I am lazy. I signed up for ebird alerts at the start of this course, which has been nice, I started joining classes at the local Audubon but then they got cancelled due to Covid :( hopefully  soon

Activity 2: I am in multiple birding groups centered around sharing rare bird sightings in my area. I also am signed up for rare bird alerts in my county and surrounding counties. I love to try and go see a rare bird that I hear about. Often because of my job I am not able to make it in as timely a manner is needed to really take advantage but I have several times seen birds because of the alerts, as well as, contributed to them myself.

Activity 1: In the past I kept a birding journal. There was a lot of good information in my old journal. I documented the time, date, temperature, and general weather observations at the start of each entry. Then I documented all the birds I saw, what they were doing, and any unusual behaviors. I find that my own notes serve as a great source for knowing what birds to expect to see in my own yard at any given time of year. Because of this assignment I decided to give field notes a better try, as far as really looking for descriptors and field marks. I found that even if I looked at a bird I know well (or maybe especially a bird I know well) that I noticed more about it's coloration and markings when thinking about if I were to draw it. I think drawing pics of the birds is probably out for me. I did try and draw a picture of a female Northern Cardinal that had lost her tail that was at my feeder. It really ended up looking like a rubber ducky not a Northern Cardinal. LOL. I think the notes and concept are very helpful but art takes too much focus on the art itself and is not something I can just do in the field. I have never been organized and really kept a list of all the birds I have seen. At various times I have checked off various checklists but not been organized about it and do not even know where many of them are anymore. Since being introduced to ebird I use it every day. I really love that it keeps track of what I have seen and where. I also got a camera for my birthday (August 13, 2020) and I have been working on my bird photography skills. I try to take pictures every day. Some turn out really good and others not so good. I love adding the pictures to my ebird lists. I find that it is a great way to document what I have seen. I like many others have mentioned with this assignment, use my photos to get my ids correct. This is really helpful for many of the shorebirds. I upload ones that I am not confident in to Merlin and can usually get some clarification. I also am a member of multiple Facebook groups that are for bird id. I have used them several times to get opinions on birds that were difficult.

Activity 1: The first observation in my Roger Tory Peterson, "A Field Guide to Western Birds," dates back to 1982, although I had been watching birds long before that date. Since then, my notes over the years, in Peterson as well as in my other favourite, Nat Geo's "Field Guide to the Birds of North America", are pretty messy (see photos!) with no bird ID strategies mentioned, except for the 1987 insert shown here when I saw a Mandarin Duck swimming in Lost Lagoon in Vancouver, BC's Stanley Park. This stunningly beautiful duck is native to Asia, but occasionally seen on ponds around the west coast of BC -- apparently there was one spotted in Burnaby, BC this year. The side column in my Nat Geo guide (second photo) lists all the birds that came to my backyard feeders during March, April and May 2020 COVID-19 shutdowns. They added so much joy to the proceedings!  Since beginning this course, though, I have thought about getting my life list in order to see how extensive it is. Activity 2: I am subscribed to rare bird alert emails on ebird, which does pique my interest from time to time. Sometimes, I wonder, "Really? Could that be true?" when someone cites a bird that seems rare indeed to be seen in our area. Then, I remember the Mandarin Duck.

Activity 2: I signed up for rare bird alerts on eBird.

Activity 1: I use eBird to record my birding observations. On one of my checklists, I saw a bird that was listed as being rare for my location and date (White-breasted Nuthatch). eBird required me to record comments about my observation of this bird. I just put something simple down, like I saw it climbing a tree. Later, I received an email from a regional volunteer asking for further detail about the observation. I went back in to eBird and documented a more thorough description of the bird's behavior, habitat, and field markings. I can see how the more detailed the field notes are, the more reliance can be placed on the observation (especially when coming from a novice like me). I've also started bringing a camera with me when birding to try and get some photos of birds. The birds don't always stay still long enough for me to get a photo, but I have succeeded in snapping a few pictures of American Robins and Black-capped Chickadees.

My oldest bird notes were written in my field guide ; when and where I saw the bird as seen on the right side of the photo. Later I began making lists of all the birds I saw, the date and where I was birding as seen on in the notebook on the right.When I began using E-bird I started recording bird counts, start and end times and some notes in addition to the date and location. Most of the places I bird have no cell phone signal so I still record everything in my notebook using a kind of shorthand. I use abbreviations for a lot of the common birds(WBNH- White Breasted Nuthatch, TTM- Tufted Titmouse etc) as well as my usual locations. I also use tick marks for the counts. This makes it easy to add more birds of the same species as I see them.

Our local birding club is apparently not meeting at present due to coronavirus restrictions.  As I beginner, I could really use some mentoring.  I'm having a hard time with the logistics of birdwatching.  I have terrible vision, wear glasses, and only have an inexpensive pair of binoculars at this point (7X).  It is a bit awkward using the binoculars with my glasses on, and if I try to take them off, it is just one more thing to handle and fumble.  I tend to locate the birds without binoculars, but when I switch to binoculars, it is hard to find the same location on the tree.  By the time I find the right spot, the bird has often flown away.  I'll also need to experiment with different times of day, different levels of sunshine, different angles.  Even when I can focus on a bird, it is often backlit, making it hard to see any colors and markings.  I also find the position (standing, looking up) to be uncomfortable (hurts my neck).  My only camera is my cell phone, and I can barely get photos of our feeder birds let alone birds in treetops.  I have a small notebook that I've used for field notes, mostly around our yard.  I've found it helpful to write down my best interpretation of the vocalizations that I hear.  I walked around a park today, heard at least 7 or 8 different birds but couldn't see any of them.  It's frustrating, but I'm still having fun!  I'm sorry if this post sounds like I'm complaining.  My awkward attempts so far are truly a comedy of errors.  I do feel connected to the community through our local Wild Birds Unlimited store which offers expertise along with occasional presentations, and I really enjoy the WBU Backyard Birds Photos on FaceBook.  I am pretty good at identifying feeder birds.  I received my Project Feederwatch package earlier this week, and I look forward to participating for the first time.  I'm also using eBird to look at lists submitted by local birders.

Activity 1: I take a lot of pictures and videos during my field trips. Then I analyze them calmly at home. I feel really overwhelmed with information and excitement and most likely miss on a lot of details during my bird watching. Pictures help to identify birds with the help of books and Merlin ID app. Songs captured in videos help to figure out birds that I couldn’t see or photograph. Activity 2: I joined a Facebook group and keep my eye open on any planned activity in the world of bird watching in our city. Last year I was lucky to meet authors of my 2 bird books. Talking to them was very inspiring!

Activity 1: I pulled over near a swamp and spent 10-15 minutes in the field viewing birds and taking notes. I spotted a redwing blackbird and observed what appeared to be territorial behaviour. Field notes were helpful in reminding me what I saw. Activity 2: I'd like to start a group called the Thousand Islands Birdwatchers Association. Does anyone have any advice for starting a birding group? My vision is a remote group on FB for the time being to limit in-person gathering.

Since I am new to birding, I seldom know what kind of bird I am seeing, so here is what I do.  I take photos of the bird with my real camera (not a phone camera) because I have a 30x optical zoom so I can get a close-up photo of a far-away bird.  When I get home, I copy the photo to my computer and enlarge it for a better view.  Then I use Merlin Bird ID to figure out what the bird is.  Then I add it to my list of birds I have seen, which I keep in an Excel spreadsheet.  A couple days ago I had my best birding day ever, as I saw two kinds of herons on the same day.  Here are my photos of the green heron and the great blue heron.

I attended my first bird walk this week at a local forest preserve. I intended not so much to record the birds I saw, but just to learn how to explore, sight, and identify them from more experienced birders. With only 3 participants plus the guide, our small group helped each other with locating the birds from their sounds. The guide was great at identifying from sound, and we were able to locate and identify various species. After I made my sightings, the best I could do was just to jot down the names on paper.  I then later examined them more carefully with Merlin, and I made my first submissions to eBird. I'll have to develop the field note taking skills with more practice.  The following day I saw two magnificent white birds flying together, and with the help of Merlin, identified them as egrets and submitted them to eBird.  This is all so new to me, and I am in awe of the power of birding communities to document bird activities globally.

Making field notes will be a new and fun addition to birdwatching. I have just the notebook for it. It has often taken several separate viewings to feel an identification is correct. This is a better than relying on memory. I subscribed to the eBird rare bird alert. Our local Audubon group is a great resource as well that is new to me.

Activity 1:  Field notes.  Since I am not a good artist, I might cheat a little here.  About a year or so ago I purchased a bird coloring book.  Perhaps upon seeing a unique bird I will color that page and put the notes in that book.  Or I will trace the bird.  I am not sure I have the patience for this,  but I will try it out. I tried to download ebird but it's not seeming to port over my previous recorded bird-sightings.  I will need to look into this.  Hopefully I won't just give up.