Good Birding Sites
Quite often I come across a good birding site that just cries out to be shared with others. I’ve been meaning to do this for a while – I just haven’t got around to it. So here we go.
I’ve used some basic criteria for selecting those sites I link to in this way:
- The site must be mainly about birds (but this is a flexible rule).
- The site ideally features photos of birds.
- The writing must be interesting and complement the photos.
- The site must be updated relatively frequently (at least weekly).
Here are this week’s links:
- Natural Visions – nature and photography with Kevin Doxstater.
- Ben Cruachan Blog – birding and nature observations in Victoria, SE Australia.
- A Snail’s Eye View – another blog from Victoria, Australia, but with an interest in many things, not just birds.
- Charlie’s Bird Blog – amazing photos from Charlie – his job with an airline takes him all over the world.
- Peregrine’s Bird Blog – this one comes from Northern Ireland and features many photos too. An added bonus on this blog is the incredibly long blogroll; this list could provide weeks of happy surfing.
Enjoy.
Birding Bloopers #14
I have really enjoyed reading the birding bloopers that have been shared on the Birding-Aus forum. The contributors have been very generous in allowing me to share their embarrassing experiences here on my blog. Many of the contributions have come from Australia but there have been a few from overseas. This is the case today, with an example from Malaysia.
After several trips to Malaysia, I had collected quite a few ticks for Scarlet Minivet, mostly in montane or sub-montane habitats. Very distinctive bird, no problem with ID.
Ha.
In 1995 on a wet day in Fraser”s Hill I did a bit reading through the field guides and discovered to my horror that the Scarlet Minivet only occurs below 900m. A large percentage of my sightings had to have been Grey-chinned Minivets. After going back over my notes when I got back home, my number of Minivet sightings diminished significantly after crossing out all those sightings between 800m and 1000m due to uncertainty.
Goes to show one should always read the fine print.
One of the problems with birding in a strange location or in a new country for the first time is that you basically have to start over. The learning curve is steep, especially if birding alone like I did last year in Thailand and Nepal. Carl’s experience points to the importance of doing one’s homework. Before leaving on my overseas trip I spent at least six months studying the appropriate field guides. Sounds a good theory – until one hits the trail on your own. It’s then you realise how little you’ve remembered from the books.
Thanks to Carl for permission to publish his experience here.
To read more birding bloopers click here.
Question for readers:
When did you experience an embarrassing birding moment? Perhaps it was a mistaken identification. Perhaps you didn’t look carefully enough and were later proved wrong. Maybe the bird itself fooled you in some way.
I invite readers to submit their birding bloopers in the comments section below. If it’s good enough I might just feature it in a post of its own, with a link back to your blog (if you have one).
Galahs come for a swim
The hot and very dry conditions in our district over this summer have produced many visitors to our bird baths. (Click on the category “Bird Baths”) The other day, however, I was alerted to a flock of noisy Galahs in another part of the garden. About sixty Galahs had settled in the trees near our swimming pool (read “Swamp” – it is green because we have not maintained or used it this summer).
Galahs
Some of these Galahs decided that they needed a drink, so they settled on the brick paving around the pool. The water level was far too low for them to reach the water. This was because of the water restrictions during the current drought here. It made a spectacular sight and they allowed me to approach quite near before they flew off into nearby trees.
Galahs
Good Birding Site
I recently came across an interesting birding site on the internet. It has heaps of information about birds from all over the world. Each species has a very interesting description of the bird, its habits, size, habitat and other general information. Each species is accompanied by a good photograph of the bird.
Link:
- Birds Guide – A Guide to All About Birds
Birding while travelling
When we travel I enjoy watching out for the birds we see during our journey. Concentrating on driving is the highest priority of course, but it is still amazing what one can see as you go along. For me, it certainly lessens the boredom, keeping me more alert and that has to be a good thing.
Several days ago I wrote about a short break we had in Clare, staying in our daughter’s house. I commented that I didn’t see all that many birds on the way, nothing out of the ordinary anyway. Yesterday afternoon we returned home to Murray Bridge. This time we took a different route. It was a little longer and this didn’t matter as we didn’t have a deadline.
Again we saw the usual species as we travelled. By far the most common were Australian Magpies and Little Ravens. In several places we saw flocks of Feral Pigeons and Common Starlings, especially in the vineyards of the Barossa Valley, arguably Australia’s premier wine growing region. I saw a few Red Wattlebirds, the occasional Crested Pigeon and a few House Sparrows, especially in the towns we drove through and near farm houses.
On our journey to Clare last week I commented on the total absence of birds of prey. They were conspicuous by their absence again today. I only saw two; a lone Nankeen Kestral and a single Brown Falcon, each sitting high atop a power pole.
The highlight of the trip was afternoon tea – no, not the food and the cuppa, though that was very enjoyable and relaxing. We stopped at a park in the old copper mining town of Kapunda, just over an hour’s drive north of Adelaide. My father grew up only a few kilometres from the town.
This park has a number of lawned areas, a barbecue for public use and a number of picnic tables and seats. It also features a small artificial lake. We hadn’t even sat down to pour our cuppa and the stream of ducks was heading our way. It was a fruitless exercise on their part. Also joining the picnic was a family of six baby Eurasian Coots, all fluffy and downy and noisy, begging mother for food while trying not to get too much under our feet.
Naturally I had to race back to the car for the camera. I managed quite a few lovely shots plus a simply lovely photo of a White Faced Heron. Also seen were many Australian Wood Ducks, several Pacific Black Ducks, a single Dusky Moorhen, dozens of White Plumed Honeyeaters and an army of domestic ducks, mostly Muscovy Ducks.
In the nearby trees I heard some Magpie Larks, Rainbow Lorikeets and Adelaide Rosella parrots. I also saw a single New Holland Honeyeater as we drove off.
I am not able to show the photos I took this afternoon. Since the WordPress update we are having trouble uploading photos from our photo gallery to this blog. As soon as this is rectified I will update this post.