How many of you are bird watchers?

[Gwangi]

I've been thinking about this one for a while and it got me thinking, how many of us dinosaur fanatics are also into birds? Bird watching, feeding, keeping, etc. Dinosaurs are some of my favorite animals, and birds are my favorite group of dinosaurs simply because they're the ones that are still here. They're the ones that I can observe and interact with. Bird watching is one of my hobbies. I maintain a life list of the birds I've seen and started it in 1999. I take trips to places for the purpose of looking for birds. I also feed the wild birds during the winter, maintain bird houses on my property, photograph birds, and keep a flock of chickens as pets. Curious to see if there is an overlap of interests here, like my own.

[bmathison1972]

Hahaha! You knew I would, shall we say, swoop in, to answer this!

I have been 'officially' birding for about two years now. I document my sightings on eBird. I think my personal 'life list' is at about 210 birds.

Interestingly, me and two fellow birders, one each in AZ and PA, are doing a joint challenge for 2023. We are trying to document 400 North American species (combined among the three of us) for 2023. At the end of the first month, we are at 199 species (but it will get harder as there becomes more and more overlap).

[Newt]

I would consider myself a casual birder - I don't maintain a life list or anything, but I do pay attention to birds. I've recently moved from a rural area to the suburbs, which has led to a disappointing decrease in both the number and diversity of birds I see at home. Fortunately, the zoo where I work is a bit of an urban oasis that attracts many birds not usually seen in the city. The zoo has a Motus tower and some banding and nestbox programs, as well as being involved in captive breeding of the sharply declining Loggerhead Shrike (among other, more exotic birds). 

I was pretty stoked to see a flock of Sandhill Cranes flying over the zoo a few days ago. They didn't land on property, but still cool to see (and hear) them.

[ceratopsian]

I'm keen on bird watching.  I've enjoyed garden birds from childhood.  My parents wouldn't make a trip specifically to see birds in the wild, but were keen enough that they recognised quite a wide range of species and had a small pair of binoculars, and would visit major reserves on holiday.  They bought me a couple of bird books when I was small, which I still have.  As my mother sank into dementia, one of the pleasures that persisted a long time was enjoying the succession of tits and finches coming to the feeder outside her window, and watching "her" blackbirds bathing.  For me, it progressed beyond recognising and feeding garden birds during lockdowns in 2020.  We had access to a local golf course for walking (when golf was forbidden), and it unusually possesses a large number of water features, right up to a sizeable lake.  They also have a man employed just to feed and keep an eye on the wild birds - his latest project before the course closed to us was building a kingfisher bank.  So I saw ducks I didn't recognise and had to look them up - Pochard and Tufted, plus a transient Gadwall pair.  There was a very shy small bird that stayed submerged for ages.  I worked out it was a Little Grebe and would spend ages finding it and tracking its movements.  Still one of my favourite birds.  There was a large flock of Mute Swans, Egyptian Geese with youngsters in February, Fieldfare and Redwing flocks....  And so it went from there.  I joined a local RSPB group, who do regular group walks and run a WhatApp group to share our sightings and photos.  We've been on day trips further afield and a couple of holidays.  I'm completely hooked - and have dragged my husband into it too.  I particular enjoy water birds - ducks, geese, waders.  Small brown birds are harder - I'm not young, so seeing detail on them is tougher than if I'd been doing it in my 20s!  Yesterday's joy was seeing a highly vociferous flock of Siskin at our local reserve, and a good number of Redwing.  This time last year I saw my first ever Siskin, hadn't even heard of them till Christmas 2021 - I've learned a lot since 2020! Which is, I think, part of the pleasure.  I'm hoping for a Bittern, and maybe a male Smew, on our Thursday outing!

[Pliosaurking]

I love animals in general and birds are no exception. My grandmother always feeds the birds and I enjoy watching them. I also enjoy seeing different species I haven't seen before. I remember this summer just past, I saw a grey heron in P.E.I which was really neat! I live in an area near the coast and often get to see Bald Eagles and Osprey, which is really nice!

[Pachyrhinosaurus]

I'm not a serious birdwatcher, but I'm a regular at the local zoo, where I'll see a variety of local birds and try to get some pictures of them. The only time I go out specifically to see wild birds is for the spring snow goose migration. There's a local reservoir for waterfowl where they'll congregate in the tens and sometimes hundreds of thousands each year alongside other species.

[Stegotyranno420]

Every summer I observe birds in various lakes woth my binoculars. I guess that counts

[ceratopsian]

That must be the most amazing sight!

I'm not a serious birdwatcher, but I'm a regular at the local zoo, where I'll see a variety of local birds and try to get some pictures of them. The only time I go out specifically to see wild birds is for the spring snow goose migration. There's a local reservoir for waterfowl where they'll congregate in the tens and sometimes hundreds of thousands each year alongside other species.

[Cretaceous Crab]

I'm a very lazy birder. Have the Merlin and Audubon apps on my phone but aside from the common species, and an isolated handful from my recent trip to Hawaii, I have only logged a few notables.

[Doug Watson]

In my youth I was a serious bird watcher and would keep yearly checklists, I can't remember who put those out, I must have them somewhere. I used to be able to identify all the different warblers but now I would know it was a warbler but would have to check a guide book to identify it. I still have my eye out looking for birds or any type of wild fauna. Now I record them with my camera.
I used to put up bird houses when I lived at home back in the 70s and started feeding birds back then as well. When I got my own home I kept up with feeding them in the winter but haven't put up houses in years. I might have to get back into that but unfortunately in this neighbourhood I'll have to make it cat proof.
P.S. Just remembered why I don't put up bird houses, we have a clothes line, that is also why I only feed in winter when my wife doesn't put the clothes out.

[Fembrogon]

I'd say I'm a relatively casual birdwatcher, but even as a casual hobby bird watching has been a staple of my household. Where I used to live, we had good acreage with trees and bordering creeks, and we put up a variety of feeders and houses within window view throughout the seasons. Over the course of about 20 years, we documented nearly 100 bird species on that property.
Nowadays I'm in an apartment complex with minimal feeder opportunities, so the bird watching is much more limited. Nevertheless, I've been recording all the unique species I've broadly seen since my move, and I've racked up just under 70 species in just the last couple of years. I don't log my viewings on eBird, but I use the Merlin app quite frequently; and our birdwatching "bible" of choice has always been the superb Sibley guide book.

Going out on serious wildlife trips would be something I'd love to do more often, but of course those time and money things can often be tricky. I did have a chance in late 2020 to visit a migration stopping point for sandhill cranes, and WOW was that a lot of birds! Hundreds upon thousands of cranes, practically materializing out of the horizon for hours straight! That was surely one of the best experiences I've had in recent years.

[Gwangi]

Good to see so many birders among us! I'm loving the stories. Seems like a lot of you are casual birders, so am I. I see that B @bmathison1972 has been birding for 2 years and documented more birds than I have in 24! Every new species gets added to my life list but birding is often secondary to something else I am doing. Like, I'll be fishing, and I take my binoculars and look around if the fishing is slow. Still, this strategy manages to get me at least a few lifers every year. I take dedicated birding trips too though, especially if an uncommon bird is reported nearby, like when we had some roseate spoonbills hanging out at the local wildlife refuge.

I also have a few bad birding habits I suppose. I don't travel very far and rarely get out early in the morning when the birding is at its best. All my lifers come from just a few different states, most were seen in local wild places I can take day trips to. I also just visit the same spots frequently so the local species all get checked off pretty quickly. And, I frequently give up, lol. There are some birds that are often too frustrating. I live near the coast and different gulls and shorebirds can be exceptionally frustrating. Also, I'm entirely old school. My life list is pen and paper, I still use field guides. No apps, no ebird. I get email notifications for rare bird alerts but that's about as technologically advanced as my birding gets.

[bmathison1972]

My personal life list is an Excel file with species and states. I use eBird as a convenience and it's easy to share data that way, but really I see birding as an opportunity to get out into nature and observe animals in their natural habitat. I also make mental note of other animals. For example, City Creek Canyon (behind my apartment in downtown Salt Lake City), I have seen mule deer, American red squirrels, fox squirrels, mink, coyote, and badger.
But birding has since supplanted entomology as my main animal hobby LOL

[Gwangi]

My personal life list is an Excel file with species and states. I use eBird as a convenience and it's easy to share data that way, but really I see birding as an opportunity to get out into nature and observe animals in their natural habitat. I also make mental note of other animals. For example, City Creek Canyon (behind my apartment in downtown Salt Lake City), I have seen mule deer, American red squirrels, fox squirrels, mink, coyote, and badger.
But birding has since supplanted entomology as my main animal hobby LOL

Yeah, truth be told my main goal whenever I'm outdoors is to spot as many animals as I can. They don't have to be birds but birds are the only ones I document.

[ceratopsian]

I don't keep lists. But I do use Merlin to help me identify birdsong. I don't retain birdsong well in my head so it's a useful aid. Otherwise I use hard copy books. And I don't "do" gulls, at least not yet. So many are so very similar and they often aren't keen to show their diagnostic legs!

[bmathison1972]

I don't keep lists. But I do use Merlin to help me identify birdsong. I don't retain birdsong well in my head so it's a useful aid. Otherwise I use hard copy books. And I don't "do" gulls, at least not yet. So many are so very similar and they often aren't keen to show their diagnostic legs!

hahahaha! I hate gulls! Well, don't hate them, but they are HARD. I find sparrows easier. My goal is to check off one of every gull so going forward I can just say, 'Larus sp.'       

[bmathison1972]

Lifer along the Jordan River Parkway today: Wilson's Snipe!

eBird link with complete list and numbers: https://ebird.org/checklist/S128189101

[Gwangi]

Lifer along the Jordan River Parkway today: Wilson's Snipe!
eBird link with complete list and numbers: https://ebird.org/checklist/S128189101

Congrats! I did some duck watching yesterday, no lifers but I wasn't expecting any. I'll be posting pictures in the wildlife photo thread soon.

[bmathison1972]

Lifer along the Jordan River Parkway today: Wilson's Snipe!
eBird link with complete list and numbers: https://ebird.org/checklist/S128189101

Congrats! I did some duck watching yesterday, no lifers but I wasn't expecting any. I'll be posting pictures in the wildlife photo thread soon.

The main reason I went to this location today is because a Long-tailed Duck was documented and photographed there yesterday by multiple people, a very rare sighting this far inland. I didn't see it, but Wilson's Snipe more than made up for it

[Halichoeres]

I'm a very casual birder, more of a general-purpose naturalist. I've never gone to a spot because I heard a particular bird was there, but I've gone to places that are known hotspots for migrants, for example. I've been lucky enough to live in several places that have good birding: southern Arizona, Colombia, Chicago (Lake Michigan is a huge migration corridor). I don't keep a life list, but I buy one or more field guides whenever I travel somewhere that I don't have guides for already, and I'll pencil in the things I've been able to identify. I've gotten to see some really cool things while traveling, either for work or vacation, like Brolga cranes and coucals in Australia, motmots and tanagers in Colombia, parrotfinches in Fiji, and hornbills in India. Colombia especially has insane bird diversity; it's roughly twice the size of Texas but has twice as many bird species as the entire US and Canada put together.