Good birding sites
Here is another collection of good birding sites that are worth a visit:
- Birding Kuwait – very strong on excellent photos with only minimal text. (Rating 9/10)
- Oygarden Birding – about birding in Norway with plenty of photos and some explanatory text. It has two drawbacks in my opinion: the photos only enlarge slightly and the black background makes reading the text difficult (it hurts my eyes). Still worth a visit. Rating 5/10)
- African Bird Club – an excellent resource for birding anywhere in Africa. The photo gallery has nearly 7000 photos of over 1500 African bird species. Every African country has a section devoted to it, including a map. There is also a section giving advice on what books and CDs to buy. Rating 9/10.
- Brdpics – yes – I spelled it correctly – he has a matching number plate on his car – Bill Schmoker’s Birding Blog from Colorado. Many excellent photos, some cartoons and some amazing animated GIFs of birds. And if you ever suffer from a bad hair day, you won’t want to look at this amazing duck! Worth a good look. Rating 8/10.
Stay tuned for more good birding links in coming weeks.
In the meantime – can you recommend any?
Birds in the News #77
No Comments »6th April, 2007; Category: Birds in the News
The latest edition of the birder’s digest Birds in the News #77 has been published.
It features articles on these topics:
- The discovery of the fossilized footprints of a road-runner type bird in China.
- A story from New Zealand about a kiwi chick called Norbit.
- The incredible distant flying feats of Bar-Tailed Godwits and how they are being tagged and tracked by satellite.
- Research into declining numbers of Barn Owls.
and much more.
Bird Word: Mallee Tree
- Mallee: this is a word I use often in my blog because I live in the Mallee districts of South Australia. Mallee is a group name for eucalypt trees which form dense scrublands and are usually found in arid or semi-arid parts of Australia. They are usually multi-trunked trees growing from a single underground stump called a lignotuber.
The mallee regions of Australia are quite extensive, stretching from southern western Australia through southern south Australia into northern Victoria and western New South Wales. Mallee scrubs can be quite thick, and almost impenetrable in some places. It is the preferred habitat for some of our bird species including:
- Malleefowl
- Purple-crowned Lorikeet
- Mallee Ringneck Parrot
- Scarlet-chested Parrot
- Mallee Emu-wren
- Yellow-rumped Pardalote
- Mallee Heathwren (also called Shy Heathwren)
- Black-eared Miner
- Purple-gaped Honeyeater
- Yellow-plumed Honeyeater
- Southern Scrub-robin
- Red-lored Whistler
Of course, many of the above species are found in other kinds of habitat, and there are many other species which can be found in the mallee habitat (click here for more photos).
Mallee Scrub, Murray Bridge
Australian Pelicans
Most people would be able to identify a pelican if shown a photo of one. In fact, most people really love pelicans and enjoy watching them on rivers, lakes, ponds and the ocean. Many would count them as one of their favourite birds. In Australia they would be instantly recognisable to most people because they are so common in many parts of the country where there is suitable habitat.
Samela Harris, a regular columnist for South Australia’s daily newspaper, The Advertiser, has compiled a lovely little site as a photographic tribute to the pelicans of Victor Harbor, the coastal town just south of Adelaide where she lives. She has included many beautiful photos as well as links to this popular coastal town and holiday destination.
Samela is the daughter of well known poet and former bookseller, Max Harris.
Links:
- Aussie Pelicans – with photos by Samela Harris
- Victor Harbor Tourism – plenty of information for the visitor.
- Granite Island Recreation Park – at Victor Harbor you can walk across a long causeway to Granite Island about one kilometre off the coast. Walking trails cover the perimeter of the island with spectacular views in all directions. Granite Island has a breeding colony of Little Penguins. This is a must if visiting Victor Harbor.
- Victor Harbor – a series of articles I have written about this lovely spot. I have included many photos as well.
- Pelicans – a list of articles about pelicans from my archives.
Australian Pelican
Bird Word: Life List
- Life list: a list of birds a birder has seen in their life time. Many also keep year lists, month lists, week lists or day lists. Other lists include place lists, state lists, country lists, lists of birds seen on television, in movies, from their office window – in fact, this listing is limited only by the birder’s imagination, time available and interests (and level of sanity).
I am a self confessed list maker.
It is one of the reasons birding appeals to me. I keep lists. All kinds of lists. Here is a list of lists I keep:
- A list of all the birds I’ve ever seen (my “Life List”).
- A list of all the birds I’ve seen in each state of Australia.
- A list of birds I’ve seen in Australia, Thailand and Nepal (that counts as 3 lists!)
- A list of places I’ve been birding (its’ a long list).
- A list of books I have read over the last 40 years (it’s a very long list).
- A list of things I have done this year – and last year – and the one before that…
- A list of things to do today.
- A list of articles, poems and stories I’ve had published (it’s a growing list).
- A list of books and stories I’ve written that I want to send to publishers (it’s a list that should be getting shorter [sigh]).
- A list of the titles of blog articles I’ve published and the dates published (that’s 3 lists because I run 3 blogs)
- A list a potential articles to write for my 3 blogs (another 3 lists).
- A list of…
Actually – I think you get the picture, and it’s not a pretty one!
And then, in the mid 1990s I bought a birding data-base to record all my bird records. This was heaven! Now I can generate all kinds of lists at the touch of a few keys strokes. Wonderful.
What kinds of lists do you keep? Tell me in the comments section.