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Old 03-07-2020, 07:15 AM   #41
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I'm a master naturalist and depend on my birder friends. I'll take pictures of birds I can't identify and send them out. Birders reply with all sorts of identification techniques and behaviors. I saw a flock of what I thought were common ducks, until they started diving in groups. Took a pic, they were Buffleheads which are uncommon in our area. Possibly migrating. Often, I explain a color feature on the wing or shape of the head and tail or some type of behavior. Birders always know the species.
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Old 03-07-2020, 10:27 AM   #42
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Birders always know the species.
I know. My BIL is a birder. I don't bother doing much species research myself - I just text a photo to him and he identifies them for me.
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Old 03-07-2020, 11:01 AM   #43
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My main hobby is bird watching and photography. My web domain, www.excellentbirds.com, which I have owned almost 20 years (!), forwards to my Flickr account with my bird photos. Several have been published, in both books and magazines, but as I am always careful to point out: no money has changed hands for these photos.
I looked at your website and really enjoyed all the bird pics. Thank you
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Old 03-07-2020, 11:46 AM   #44
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^^^ I agree with harllee - a very nice collection of pics! Thanks for sharing.
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Old 03-07-2020, 11:51 AM   #45
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My main hobby is bird watching and photography. My web domain, www.excellentbirds.com, which I have owned almost 20 years (!), forwards to my Flickr account with my bird photos. Several have been published, in both books and magazines, but as I am always careful to point out: no money has changed hands for these photos.
If you have any particular favorites from your collection I'd be happy to see you post a few here.

BTW. Back in my birding years I visited your area (SW Florida) several times and took advantage of the bird photography opportunities. World class area for it.
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Old 03-07-2020, 12:10 PM   #46
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I'm taking an Intro to Birdwatching class at my local OLLI. Unfortunately, the class is geared toward the serious birder, whereas my interest is more casual. I just want to know a little more about the birds in my backyard.

So, the class isn't really for me, but I'll pass on a few recommendations from the instructor, which I can neither confirm nor deny:

Get a set of binoculars in the $200-$500 price range. Some good name brands are Nikon Leitz, Vortex, and Celestron. They should be 8x/42mm. Field of view should be at least 300 ft. diameter at 1000 yards, the larger the better. Don't bother with cheap compact binoculars.

Merlin ID is a good birding app. Audobon Society has another good one.

The Cornell Lab has lots of short videos that are helpful.
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Old 03-07-2020, 12:15 PM   #47
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My main hobby is bird watching and photography. My web domain, www.excellentbirds.com, which I have owned almost 20 years (!), forwards to my Flickr account with my bird photos. Several have been published, in both books and magazines, but as I am always careful to point out: no money has changed hands for these photos.
Nice warblers!
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Old 03-07-2020, 12:24 PM   #48
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Also an important part of bird "watching" is bird "listening". Once you learn to quickly recognize - by sight and sound - all the common suspects in your area, you can then start to pick out the new and unusual birds - especially during spring (easier) and fall migration.

I agree with ER Eddie that 8 X 42 is the sweet spot for binoculars. Nikon Monarchs at about $300 are great pair to start with.
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Old 03-07-2020, 01:37 PM   #49
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My main hobby is bird watching and photography. My web domain, www.excellentbirds.com, which I have owned almost 20 years (!), forwards to my Flickr account with my bird photos. Several have been published, in both books and magazines, but as I am always careful to point out: no money has changed hands for these photos.
I really like the owl and spoonbill! Nice photos!
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Old 03-07-2020, 01:43 PM   #50
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I really like the owl and spoonbill! Nice photos!
I really like the Black Skimmers, especially the parent and baby.
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Old 03-07-2020, 06:59 PM   #51
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Spotted some sandhill cranes on today’s hike
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Old 03-07-2020, 11:11 PM   #52
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Spotted some sandhill cranes on today’s hike

I've always loved Sandhills. Saw this one on a roadtrip though New Mexico last fall:
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Old 03-08-2020, 04:20 AM   #53
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Thanks. I tried to post my Painted Bunting, but the URL from Flickr did not show up... this is why I just posted the link to the site...

For all who are on this thread, Fort DeSoto in April truly is one of the premier bird watching spots in the country. Most of the warblers and tanagers photos were taken there. I would say that the 2nd week of April is the best if you were planning a trip.
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Old 03-08-2020, 05:42 AM   #54
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Yesterday I saw a blue heron flying in my neighborhood, that was a first. I have seen them at our local ponds before.
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Old 03-08-2020, 07:06 AM   #55
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I saw a flock of what I thought were common ducks, until they started diving in groups. Took a pic, they were Buffleheads which are uncommon in our area. Possibly migrating.
I live on a lake in a Kansas City suburb and they come through every year about this time. Very distinctive with their stark black and white coloring! I keep bird feeders out year-round and a hummingbird feeder in warm weather. I mostly get the common varieties- plenty of sparrows and house finches but am starting to see goldfinches. Downy woodpeckers like my suet cakes.

This year for the first time I participated in the Great Back Yard Bird Count last month. I spent part of the weekend in Des Moines with DS and family and thought it would be a great learning experience for my granddaughters, but they don't ordinarily put seed out and even though I put some out on Friday we saw zero birds over the weekend! Weather was cold and a bit snowy and a friend suggested that maybe the birds were sticking to known feeding areas. Fortunately I got home early enough on Monday to log a few species at my feeder as well as Canada geese (of course) and a bufflehead in the lake.
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Old 03-08-2020, 10:44 AM   #56
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There are a lot of Bird Watchers out there. I am betting there are some here also. So, I thought I would start a thread on the general subject of Birding.

Why? Well, though I know little about birds, I find them interesting. If I had to come back as an animal, it would probably be a bird of some type like a kestrel. And birding can be done almost anywhere with a minimum of 'gear' needed.
Great topic! We love birds although we're just amateurs when it comes to Identifying them. To bring birds to our yard, we maintain several bird feeders + hummingbird feeders (AKA "cat TV"). DH belongs to a group of "old men with cameras"- and yes that is the group name, and it has kept him way more active than I can by "nagging", so I'm grateful. I admit I'm quite the pest about keeping him more active, as he's a 72 yo recent cancer survivor.

We went to visit friends in the Corpus Christi area last weekend, and came home with pics of the Whooping Cranes (there are only 508 or so left) and a bunch of other kinds of marsh & seaside birds.

I've no real interest in photography except for capturing memories, but I sometimes tag along when the wives are invited attend the OMWC group for the ride if there is any hiking to do.
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Old 03-08-2020, 11:45 AM   #57
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Yesterday I saw a blue heron flying in my neighborhood, that was a first. I have seen them at our local ponds before.
We have one that frequents the large pond/small lake up the street. While nervous, I've gotten within about 20' walking past with it standing in a foot of water. Most often takes off & flies to other end of lake.

Saw red wing blackbird there last week for first time this year. Their color is fun to see when they fly.
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Old 03-08-2020, 11:47 AM   #58
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We went to visit friends in the Corpus Christi area last weekend, and came home with pics of the Whooping Cranes (there are only 508 or so left) and a bunch of other kinds of marsh & seaside birds.
That's over 400 more than there were 40-50 years ago.

Was a second colony established with sandhills? That was tried at one point.
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Old 03-08-2020, 11:58 AM   #59
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I got this off the web but very quick look, "The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services reported the Coastal Bend could expect to see between 412 and 660 whooping cranes this season.

"The population has really stayed stable," Turkett said. "We had a pretty good nesting year in Canada. The birds don't nest in Texas, but there were 97 nests recorded."

The International Crane Foundation calls the whooping crane one of conservation's most inspiring stories. The species dipped to a low of fewer than 20 cranes in the 1940s, with every whooping crane on earth living in the Aransas Pass National Wildlife Refuge.


"Aransas Pass Wildlife Refuge is a really cool site," Turkett said. "At a point, all of the living cranes in existence were living there, so it's the original home of the modern whooping crane.""
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Old 03-08-2020, 02:03 PM   #60
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We retired to a small community 3 miles from New Mexico and 30 miles north of Old Mexico. The birding is so great here because mexican birds don't pay attention to the border and travel the 30 miles in the mountains to mi casa. Cave Creek Canyon in Portal is famous for birds and other critters. we also have 8 rattlesnake species 1 venomous Coral snake and Ghia monsters to round things out.

Sounds like you're also very close to some popular spots for observing sandhill cranes during the winter time. I've been to the Whitewater Draw Wildlife Area to observe the sandhill cranes and it's an impressive site, it's on the other side of the Chiricahua's from your location.
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