How to be a Birder part 4
Hint # 4: Seek them out
While it is true that birds are almost everywhere one goes in the world, there are some places where there are more birds than elsewhere. I love birding in the garden of our home. We are blessed with more birds than most because we have far more trees and bushes than most people.
Good birding places
If there are not many birds in your garden, or you live in a flat or an apartment or perhaps in a high-rise building you will need to deliberately seek them out. There are many excellent birding spots in most cities and towns. Seek out the local parks and gardens and you will be sure to find more birds. Botanic gardens are particularly rich places for birding. Then seek out any lakes, rivers, dams or reservoirs, all excellent places for waterbirds. If there is a beach, shoreline or better, a river estuary, these places will provide yet a different group of birds. Search out local national parks and wildlife reserves. Even zoos can provide excellent birding spots, both inside and outside the aviaries present.
Excursions
By joining a birding club or organisation you will be able to attend their regular meetings and learn of other interesting places to go. By going on any excursions they provide, you can have access to places you may not even know about. Indeed, sometimes the leaders have gained permission to enter private areas or good birding spots to which birders rarely have access.
Warning!
A word of warning: birders love visiting sewage treatment works. That may seem a little extreme but they are highly attractive places for birds, and consequently they are also attractive places for birders. These days they are more often called waste treatment plants or they are sanitised with a ‘wetlands’ name. With effective waste management these are not the smelly locations many people imagine, but are wonderful birding spots. My current favourite is the Laratinga Wetland area near Mt Barker in the Adelaide Hills. This area consists of about five artificial lakes with an abundant birdlife, beautiful trees and bushes and an attractive picnic area.
Related articles:
Collared Sparrowhawk