Forum Role: Participant
Active Since: April 16, 2020
Topics Started: 0
Replies Created: 7

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Viewing 7 posts - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)
  • Jason
    Participant
    Activity 1: Good question! I think birds matter to me in the same way that all nature matters to me. It is our world. Without it, we can't survive and thrive. We are just one species in this vast and diverse (though alarmingly less and less diverse) world. I find birds beautiful and awe-inspiring, but no more than when I see mammals or fish or trees that really speak to me. I guess birds offer a way to observe wildlife that is much more present in our world than mammals and easier to observe than fish. I'm not sure this course has changed my way of thinking about birds, but it has given me food for thought as I've been out on my walks and on the balcony watching for birds. I've really enjoyed the course! Activity 2: I've become a big user of ebird, so I'm contributing to citizen science. I also try to use as little plastic as possible, and reuse where I can. I'm not using pesticides in my garden and do buy some organic foods. What could I do better? For sure I could buy more organic food and eat less meat, which would likely mean less forestland turned into pasture. I could use even less plastic than I do today. I could turn my garden into a place more welcoming for birds. I could look for coffee that is shade grown. One thing not mentioned in the list of actions to help birds is getting involved in a local organization with an aim to protecting or even expanding wilderness areas for animals. Activity 3: I've always been interested in nature around me, but I have to say I've never paid close enough attention to observe changes in bird populations in my vicinity. I've also moved around over the course of my life, so I haven't had the opportunity to observe the same place for the whole of my life. Activity 4: I'm pretty much brand new to birding, so there are so many things that I want to do 'next'! The pandemic has made it impossible to travel, even to nearby regions. When that factor disappears, I'm looking forward to exploring new regions and habitats to find new birds and to spend more time in wilderness-heavy zones. I haven't yet had the chance to go birding with anyone aside from my immediate family, all of whom are even newer to this than me. So I'm looking forward to getting out with more experienced birders sometime soon to learn from them. And I'm looking forward to taking my kids on some organized activities with birds -- I've found one nighttime owl session near our place that I'm excited about! So many things to explore.
  • Jason
    Participant
    Activity 1: Two different habitats that I frequent when out birding are 1) a wooded and reedy riverbank, and 2) a wetland forest area. I definitely see different species in each, though there is an overlap. In the former, I see many water fowl (e.g., Mallards, Great Blue Herons, Double-Crested Cormorants, Greater Scaups, etc), as well as a large quantity of Red-Winged Blackbirds, Tree Swallows, and Song Sparrows. In the latter, I also see Red-Winged Blackbirds, but I rarely see any water fowl or Song Sparrows. Instead, I see American Robins, Common Grackles, sometimes White-Breasted Nuthatch, a few different species of woodpeckers, and a wider variety of warblers. Activity 2: I compared species at the two locations in Arizona. Roger Road seems to be a wetland. We see water fowl, a variety of sparrows, birds that forage in shallow water, like Great Egrets, and so on. By contrast, Mt. Lemmon seems to be, well, a mountain top. We see a larger variety of hawks, woodpeckers, and other birds that live in forests. I would guess it is a forested mountain trail.
  • Jason
    Participant
    Activity 1: I picked a European Starling to watch, mostly because most of the other birds I see outside don't stick around for long enough to watch! The bird was on a grassy section of a park feeding with several other starlings. It pecked at the grassy lawn, and walked around as it did so. The other starlings in the group did the same thing. The bird constantly looked up, likely to check for predators, and then back down to continue foraging for food. It never strayed more than a meter or two from the other birds in its group. At one point, one bird in the group suddenly flew away into a nearby tree, and the rest of the group departed too, though they didn't all congregate in the same tree. While the birds were grazing, they rarely made calls and didn't sing, but when they departed in flight they did make calls, and then one in the tree one of them started singing. Activity 2: I watched the Sapsucker Woods feeder cam for about 10 minutes. I saw an American Robin land on the flat surface (not the hanging feeders), look around (perhaps for predators?) for about 10 seconds, and then fly away without having taken any seeds. Then, a White-Breasted Nuthatch landed on a perch of one of the hanging feeders. The bird spent most of its time glancing around in different directions, jumping to adjust its position on the perch so it could see in different directions. Finally, the bird dug its head inside the feeder and eventually grabbed a seed and flew away. A minute later, a Nuthatch arrived back at the same feeder -- likely the same bird. It took another individual seed and flew away again. This happened a few more times. I also saw a Northern Cardinal land on the flat surface and peck at individual seeds, also looking around constantly for vigilance. After a minute of this, the Cardinal hopped up onto a perch of one of the hanging feeders and grabbed individual seeds from inside this feeder. Comparing the Nuthatch and the Cardinal, the larger bird (Cardinal) seemed more interested in the flat landing area, whereas the smaller bird only landed on the perch. This might also have to do with the Nuthatch's specific preference for surfaces like a tree truck -- maybe another small bird, like a sparrow, would also be comfortable on the flat surface. Again comparing the two, the Cardinal spent longer at the feeder than the Nuthatch did -- the latter had a pattern of landing, grabbing a seed, departing with it, then returning to start the cycle over again. Activity 3: I often spend a bit of time on my balcony observing birds. I've been amazed at how much of my experience is now auditory as opposed to just visual. Immediately, when I go outside, I hear a single House Sparrow chirping away loudly from inside a cedar bush. Then, as I grow accustomed to this sound, my ears open up to other bird sounds. I hear a black-capped chickadee's song in the distance, the song of a Northern Cardinal, the periodic calls of Ring-Billed Gulls as they pass overhead, the caws of American crows, the rhythmic beating of duck wings as a mallard shoots by, the songs and calls of Red-Winged Blackbirds in the distance, and the honking of several Canada Geese as they fly overhead. The list goes on!
  • Jason
    Participant
    Activity 1: some birds have very long migrations based on the seasons, while others, like the Northern Cardinal, seem to stay put more or less throughout the year. Some birds migrate from the same starting point along very different paths, with some opting for a route over the Gulf of Mexico and up the east coast, for example, while others moving up the west coast. Activity 2: I live in Montreal. I've become quite fascinated with the bar charts and range maps available in Merlin lately. Three birds that are found in my area throughout the year and that I've seen lately: Mallard; American Crow; and Northern Cardinal. Three birds that only live in my area for part of the year: Tree Swallow; Double-Crested Cormorant; and Great Egret. I've seen all three of these in the past month! I'm really fascinated by the Great Egret's range map. Usually range maps for migratory species have a migration zone that connects a breeding zone and a year-round or non-breeding zone. But for the Great Egret, the migration zone is actually further north than all other zones (year-round, non-breeding, and breeding). What the heck are they doing migrating well beyond their breeding areas? Activity 3: summer season is clearly the season for getting dressed up. It's like the prom! Both birds have the same base color schemes in summer and winter, but the summer plumage is sharper, brighter, more demarcated and decorated. I've only just started paying close attention to birds around me, despite having loved the outdoors and nature my whole life. I'm interested to see how hard it will be to identify birds once plumages for my regular sightings start changing. Already, it's hard to differentiate male and female when plumage varies considerably, not to mention immature birds; so when all of their plumages start changing in different directions later in the year -- that's going to be a challenge. But I look forward to it. Activity 4: My favorite birding spot is probably the birding spot that I haven't been to yet -- the far north, the coastal waters where I grew up but no longer live, deep boreal forest -- these places are ones I dream about being in to see what's there. But my most regular birding spots hold a different kind of special place in my heart. I love getting to know a place deeply by spending a lot of time there. I have a place I go to several times a day for walks and that I've gotten to know in much deeper ways since I've started paying attention to what birds show up, and doing some reading in Merlin and elsewhere on what is likely to appear at different times of the year. Right now, that spot is dominated by Red-Winged Blackbirds, Song Sparrows, Great Blue Herons, Double-Crested Cormorants, Mallards, Ring-Billed Gulls, Tree Swallows, and others. Interestingly, in six months, the mix of birds that people typically see at this site seems to be very similar. Birds that migrate away from here will be back on their southward migration in about six months (e.g., Buffleheads, Common Goldeneye). The Tree Swallow is one of the few examples of a bird that is here now but who probably won't be around in six months.
  • Jason
    Participant
    Activity 1: I regularly watch for birds on my balcony. I live close enough to a large river for their to be a range of water fowl and migrating species that show up, but also on a residential street so get a mix of birds that love to hang out near humans. An example of the two extremes is seeing Great Blue Herons, Canada Geese, and Double-Crested Cormorants flying overhead, while listening to the cacophony of House Sparrows, Northern Cardinals, and Rock Pigeons at the same time. Activity 2: I use Merlin all the time while I'm in the field and also at home. In the field, I mostly use the Bird ID feature to help me ID things I see. It has proved super useful! At home, I also love to use the explore birds feature, especially the view that allows me to see bar charts for my area, which lets me know what birds are common or are soon to be common for my area that I haven't yet seen. Both in the field and at home, I also often listen to bird vocalizations to help me figure out what I'm hearing while outside. I've been amazed at home much my birding has become auditory as I've gotten into it -- I totally expected birding to be entirely about seeing, but hearing is just as important, and perhaps will become even more important for me as trees and bushes leaf-out, making birds harder to observe visually. Activity 3: I've been doing this a bunch lately. I love to check out what birds people are finding in my area that I haven't yet seen. Before I started observing birds more closely, I was basically ignorant of how much bird migration happened in my area. I knew all about migrating geese, but I ignored how many of the other species migrated as well, and also which ones stuck around, and all of the questions behind why some left and some stayed, etc. The range maps on All About Birds and the Bar Charts on eBird have been super helpful in teaching me about who migrates when and to where. I love it! One bird I'm looking forward to discovering is a bird that bar charts tell me is about to start showing up in big numbers here -- the Yellow Warbler. I've never seen it before, but realized it would be coming soon by checking out the Merlin list of most likely birds in my area with accompanying bar charts for monthly frequencies.
  • Jason
    Participant
    Activity 1: House Sparrow and Rock Pigeon. Very different shapes. Activity 2: Northern Cardinal, Red-Winged Blackbird, and Northern Flicker. All have red coloring, but in different amounts and locations on the plumage. Northern Cardinal is almost entirely red, usually strikingly so. By contrast, the Red-Winged Blackbird has very noticeable and usually quite bright shoulder patch, while the Northern Flicker has small red bands on the face/head. Activity 3: a) Red-Winged Blackbird scrounging for food on the ground, jumping around and picking at the ground here and there; b) Canada Goose grazing on grass; c) Lesser Scaup diving underwater for food. Activity 4: White-Breasted Nuthatch. Approximately the size of a large sparrow. Beautiful grey back with black flashes. White-breasted (as the name suggests). Black cap. A subtle red splash of color on the belly. These birds creep along tree trunks looking for insects, and they often creep 'upside-down', with their head facing towards the ground. I've only seen them in fairly dense forest where there are an abundance of tree trunks. I usually see them in small groups of 2-3. They are present throughout the year here (Montreal). In the spring months, they are present throughout most of North America.
  • Jason
    Participant
    Hi, I'm a new birder. I've always loved being outdoors and exploring nature, but I only started observing birds on  my walks very recently, and I'm really enjoying it. Activity 2: on my walks recently, I've come across Great Blue Herons from the wading birds category, Song Sparrows from the songbirds category, and Ring-Billed Gulls from the seabirds category. Activity 3: so far, I think my favorite bird from my area is the Cooper's Hawk. I've seen a few of these in recent days. There is an area near my home with large nests in big trees where I frequently see hawks, including this one. Highlight was seeing two Cooper's Hawks mating in a tree! I love coming across them because they are rare to see and so striking in their poise and their grand soars. (My photo isn't very good -- just from a smartphone.) IMG_2523
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