Good Birding Sites
Here is another list of links to excellent birding sites:
- Earth, Wind and Water – this site has some articles and photos about birds but its real strength is in the amazing photos of sea life. The writer is a scuba diver and photographer.
- Search and Serendipity: a Birder’s Blog – David J. Ringer’s blog about birding inTexas and other parts of the USA. He has also blogged his birding experiences in Papua New Guinea, where he lived for some time, as well as Australia and New Zealand. Once again, beautiful photography.
- Journey Through Grace – Jayne’s observations of birds in her life in Georgia. Again, plenty of beautiful photos to enjoy.
- Bird Ecology Study Group – Nature Society, Singapore – more stunning photos abound on this blog site.
How to Attract Birds to Your Garden
One of the great and constant delights I have in my interest in birding is to witness the constant movement and activity of birds in our garden. Many of the articles on this blog come directly from observations of birds in the garden. Many of the photos appearing on this blog and in my photo gallery have been taken in the garden or nearby.
People who have an interest in birds often ask “How can I attract more birds to my garden?” There are some simple ways of ensuring a greater number of birds in your garden which will, in turn, bring many hours of pleasure over many years. Here are some simple “rules” to help you:
- Water: Provide a constant source of water, such as a pond, bird bath or dripping tap into a bowl.
- Food: Provide a variety of native trees and bushes that become a suitable food source. (In Australia – never put out food like parrot seed for them).
- Protection: Never let your cat roam the garden – and actively discourage neighbour’s cats from entering your garden.
- Safety: Provide a safe environment for the birds by not using any poisons like snail bait in your garden.
These are simple and effective methods of ensuring a safe and happy habitat for the birds in your garden.
For more information, go to the Bird Observers Club of Australia website. They have available two downloadable leaflets on attracting birds to your garden. Highly recommended.
Links:
- Attracting Birds to your Garden – part 1
- Attracting Birds to your Garden – part 2
- Bird Observers Club of Australia – one of our largest birding clubs.
- Garden Birds – over 80 articles from my archives about birds in gardens, mostly our garden.
New Holland Honeyeaters
Small bird tries to fly a plane
This report recently appeared in the Daily Times newspaper in Pakistan.
A flight was delayed for several hours after a tiny bird flew into the cockpit of the plane and refused to leave. The bird came in through an open door of the plane as passengers boarded at the Ben Gurion Airport, near Tel Aviv.
All 178 passengers of the Israeli airline EL Al flight to Vienna had to leave the plane while the airline brought in a professional bird-catcher. They had to wait in the passenger lounge for hours until the bird had been caught and removed from the plane. A spokesman of the airline called the incident ‘extremely rare’.
I guess the major problem was that this bird didn’t have a licence to fly.
Birds in the News #75
The latest edition of the birding digest Birds in the News #75 has been posted.
It has news about the Cactus Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl in Arizona. This species has been removed from the endangered list which will enable land development to occur in their habitat.
There is better news about some Kiwis in New Zealand who have learned to “fly” as part of a captive breeding programme. Another story from New Zealand tells of the efforts of many to educate the country’s children to care for their birds.
From Australia there is a story about the rare and endangered Orange Bellied Parrots.
This is just a sample of the many articles listed on Birds in the News #75.
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.