BIRDING LIFESTYLES

“Let’s go for a walk in the woods Blake” I suggested, and the 5-year-old took off running across the room for his shoes and coat as he replied “OK!” It was the end of a family birthday party with all my family in attendance and in-laws too, all assembled in a beautiful cabin where the woods met a tranquil central Minnesota lake. I let my niece know we were going for a walk in the woods and she signaled she was all for it, and a moment later Blake and I were headed for the lakeshore where 2 young Trumpeter Swans had recently provided nice looks for everyone just a few feet from the water’s edge.

This exciting week includes the longest days of the year, when the nesting season is in full force across the vast Arctic tundra. This week also marks an anniversary of my favorite week in the Arctic, which I timed to coincide with the peak of egg-hatching in the ultimate goose nesting location – the Yukon River Delta in western Alaska. In addition to nesting geese, there was a remarkable avifauna that included nesting Tundra Swans, Long-tailed Ducks, Spectacled Eiders, Black and Ruddy Turnstones, Sabine’s Gulls, Sandhill Cranes, and more.

Over Christmas and for a few days thereafter, blizzard conditions or severe below zero temperatures kept me all too close to home. But last Thursday, when a day of sunshine was predicted for the Pierre area in central South Dakota, I decided to brave the elements to monitor numbers of wintering eagles, hawks, and falcons along a transect I drive periodically from November through March each year. Of course, I kept track of all the birds I found along the way, and these day trips always provide exciting birding opportunities along the way.

I recently had a chance to reflect on my birding highlights for the year and quickly realized how many great adventures I have enjoyed. As we enter the last month of 2021, I’d like to suggest to all birders that a really enjoyable and productive thing to do is to write an annual summary that includes birding highlights, exciting finds, a list of your favorite birding sites, your feeding station calendar of sightings, outstanding photos, new gear – whatever you would like to include.

This time of year the air is vibrant with a mix of bird songs from before sunrise to after sunset. How are you at birding by ear? Learning to recognize and identify birds by ear takes time, experience, and a little help from a friend – or from Don Kroodsma, a noted bird song expert who has been studying bird songs a half-century. The noted author recently explained how a birder can get started or improve their skills at birding by ear. Kroodsma suggested to start by slowing down and taking the time to listen to birds as individuals.

On the road for exactly one month – from St. Patrick’s Day, March 17th to April 16th – 31 days (4 weeks and 3 days); I had an absolutely wonderful trip with a multitude of super birding experiences along the way at so many great birding hotspots! Would you believe I drove 8,001 miles?! I passed through 10 states, twice, preferring to cover the Gulf Coast region twice, a couple weeks apart, with the hope of catching the beginning of songbird migration north during my second swing through High Island, Texas.

Driving across state after state last Thursday, along my Gulf Coast drive, as the sunlight began to dim a bit, I felt the urge to stop at a location where I could photograph – water-oriented birds might be my best bet I thought, and as I crossed into eastern Louisiana a brown roadside sign declared the Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Refuge was just down the road – just what the doctor ordered!

Still in its infancy, early spring migration was reaching northward, but I couldn’t wait for it any longer to come to me – I needed to take the pulse of migration. And what better way to do that than to drive a straight-line transect south from the northern-most state in the Great Plains to take a look at the progress of bird migration state by state – last week, on the verge of the first calendar day of the spring, Saturday. The trip was exciting and insightful; bird by bird, state by state, all the way to the Gulf Coast.

BirdCast is a remarkable feature for birders that will help us all better understand spring migrations in our area, and across the United States, night by night! BirdCast provides real-time analysis maps that show intensities and movements of actual bird migration as detected by the weather radar network. You can also use BirdCast to get a prediction of how overnight migration activities might enhance your birding experiences the following day. Plus, it’s very interesting and informative to learn about the pulses of migration as they happen.

With birds beginning to sing in earnest this spring, and new birds migrating into your neighborhood now through early June, it’s time to start practicing your birding by ear skills. That is, it’s time to refresh your memory, or relearn bird songs and calls you have forgotten since last spring. Those songs will come back to mind quickly, but it’s also a great time to learn new songs to add to the list of birds you can identify when you hear their songs. Overall, learning bird songs and calls makes you a better birder – and it’s fun!

This winter’s BirdSpotter contest celebrates teachers and students who participate in Project FeederWatch and enjoy learning about birds and sharing their interest in birds. The most recent winning class includes teacher Maureen Foelkl and her students at the Queen of Peace School in Salem, Oregon. Maureen shared that Project FeederWatch motivated her students into learning more about birds and with identification help provided by the FeederWatch poster – Common Feeder Birds – the students have blossomed into enthusiastic young birders.

One of the most surprising and dramatic results of field work being conducted in remote areas of Indonesia were the discoveries of six new species of songbirds, and five new subspecies! Five of the new species were discovered on two islands: Peleng and Taliabu, remote locations described by the authors as a “lost world.” The newly described species are the Peleng Leaf Warbler, the Taliabu Leaf Warbler, the Taliabu Grasshopper Warbler, the Taliabu Myzomela, and the Peleng Fantail, all of which inhabit tropical montane forests.

A new cooperative research project conducted by representatives of several organizations helped to attach new miniature GPS-satellite tags on 52 Common Nighthawks at 13 locations across the species’ expansive nesting range to better understand where these birds spend their time throughout the year. The study provided insights about their ecology, especially during winter and migration periods. Common Nighthawks are one of the Western Hemisphere’s most widespread migratory species, yet we know little about them after they leave their nesting sites.

Among the positive adjustments people have made during the pandemic period is that birding festival organizers have reacted by providing online opportunities for birders to participate from across the country – and around the world. This provides the chance for festival organizers and community tourism promoters to reach a far larger audience of birders, although it may not help to fill hotel rooms and restaurants. We are all looking for new ways to enjoy birding activities, and virtual online events are attractive and fulfilling, including Birding Festival options.

This season’s BirdSpotter contest is celebrating teachers and students who participate in Project FeederWatch and enjoy identifying and counting birds. The second winner for this season is teacher Kelly Zajac and her students at the Kazoo School in Kalamazoo, Michigan. As a class project, Project FeederWatch has been a great value to the students, especially in lessons about ecology. Ms Zajak explained that her students learn about each of the species of birds, and that contributing data to FeederWatch is a great way for the class to feel like they are helping.

Whether you’re going on a field trip, road trip, or birding near home, you will always have the basic birding equipment with you – binoculars, field guide, camera, maybe a spotting scope. But what happens when a problem or simple emergency comes up? Are you prepared? What’s in your backpack, or the trunk of your vehicle? You probably don’t need to be reminded to bring your smartphone and charger on any field trip, and a backpack or birding–photo vest is often helpful in keeping everything in one place. But obviously, there are other things to keep in mind too.

Part birder, part citizen science contributor, part luck of the draw, each month one of the thousands of eBird participants from around the world is drawn randomly as the eBirder of the Month. As far as we’re concerned, anyone who contributes to eBird is a birder of the month, but Zeiss Sports Optics makes it more interesting by offering a great incentive to set a month-long goal for enthusiastic birders. Actually it’s not a real competition, but it’s close enough to interest some of the most enthusiastic birders in the United States and distant corners of the world.

Birders Be Aware: Just as we watch for northern finches and other birds that are moving south in significant numbers this year, very interesting information is accumulating that indicates mountain birds are moving onto the southwest Great Plains. By mid-October this irruption was mostly concentrated in southeast Colorado, southwest Kansas, and the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles, but there’s no telling how far traditionally montane birds might range this fall. It all started with Mountain Chickadees, Steller’s Jays, Pinyon Jays, and Woodhouse’s Scrub Jays.

For a few years I’ve been hoping to see Whooping Cranes in the area, either along the Missouri River, which is a familiar flyway for these rare and endangered birds, or in the open plains east of the river. So last Friday, I was absolutely aghast as I realized I had missed a great opportunity to see five Whooping Cranes that spent a number of days at a favorite wildlife refuge, Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge, which is about 70 minutes southeast of my office. I was dumbfounded by my bad luck that hinged on the fact that I only check for rare bird sightings each Friday.

Pass along your interest in birding by sharing time or equipment that will spark an interest in birding – an interest that may inspire a new birder – it might eventually make a difference in someone’s life, even lead to a career choice. Be aware of the people around you and share your interest in birds others and be open to inviting them to join you on a birding hike. When relevant and when possible, take it a step farther and make sure a deserving youngster or promising student has binoculars and a good field guide. It’s rewarding for both of you!