Laura

Activity 1 - My mother loved birds and always had a feeder and she instilled a love of birds in all her children. I have always felt birds are important but this course has taught me so many fascinating things about them that I think they are even more awesome than I did before. Activity 2 - The one new item for me on this list was the shade-grown coffee. I am not a coffee drinker but my other family members are, and I am going to share with them the importance of buying this type of coffee. I think another way to help birds is to share with others what I've learned in this course. I think the more that people know about birds, the more they will see how special they are and will be motivated to protect them also. Activity 3- When my husband and I have traveled around the country I have often expressed surprise and disappointment that I haven't seen more birds. It seems like there used to be more birds in general. I recall seeing flocks on telephone poles and similar places but don't see that as often. On the California coast I don't see as many seagulls as there used to be, though there seem to be more crows. Activity 4 - As a result of this course I would like to buy a good pair of binoculars and be involved as a Citizen Scientist in reporting the birds I see. I also would like to be able to identify more birds by their songs/calls, and make bird watching part of my travel experiences. I definitely want to learn more about birds and be more involved in protecting birds.

I wish I had reached this part in the course sooner, as I have been observing birds on my daily walk and could have been noting their numbers in EBird. Going forward I downloaded the app but have yet to enroll in the course that gives the essentials of how to use it. I am in Long Island, NY and regularly see Common Grackles, Mourning Doves and House Sparrows at our backyard feeder, and an occasional Blue Jay. I also see Northern Cardinals, American Robins and Downy Woodpeckers while I am out walking, and on occasion a Baltimore Oriole. I will look for a birding group in which to participate once things open up. For now it has been enjoyable to read other people's comments in this course. It has been a very enjoyable course and I have learned a lot. I have enjoyed sharing what I've learned with others.

Before this course I used to wonder why Cardinals were so often pictured in the snow on Christmas cards. Now I know why, they hang around all year! I have found this lesson on migration and viewing the animated migration maps to be fascinating. One of my favorite months to be outdoors is October and yet I now see from the Migration map that many birds are no longer around in the US, having already headed south. I will keep that in mind when I am in the outdoors in a few months. I had no idea about the changing colors of the feathers either. It will make identifying the birds more challenging later in the year when their colors are more muted. All the more reason to learn to identify the birds by their songs and calls.

It would be interesting and helpful if classmates posting here also included their location.