More Birders And Technology Changed Birding

When I first became interested in birding I was able to reach out to birding clubs and other birders to get advice on how to go about becoming a birder. At that time I would hear about things like making sketches of rare birds so that you would have evidence of what you've seen. If you wanted to photograph them you needed and SLR camera with a long lens which was outside of the price range of most new birders. Then they started manufacturing superzoom cameras for just a few hundred bucks. They don't usually produce the results you can get with the SLR but sketching birds became the art of the few as cameras area lot easier. 

I was finally able to find my first Black-backed Woodpecker by calling the head of an Audubon chapter in Vermont who was kind enough to give me great advice on where to look for them. They like partially burned forests of a certain type of tree and eat specific types of beetles. That was a lot of fun to finally track them down.

A good old fashioned book told me where to look for Gray Jays. They call them Canada Jays now. These birds were known to be super tolerant of humans. That was a long time ago though. Maybe they've grown tired of us by now?

I think I found out about this Fork-tailed Flycatcher through a list server. I don't believe eBird was around at that time or at least I wasn't aware of it.

Between eBird and Merlin you can get instant alerts about where rare birds are, have your phone identify them by sound, and send photos  for instant verification. It also records bird songs for you so that you can gather evidence of your sighting. This has supercharged the birding game helping birders quickly accumulate large lists of species in a short amount of time. Of course, you still have to be out there and active to do this. I think these advances in technology has made the sport/hobby/science of birding more popular than ever before. People being stuck home during covid further increased the number of new people interested in birding. 

I think all the newer technology has helped draw in a lot of new younger birders as well.

Back in the "old days" birders will tell you about how they had telephone chain calls to get the word out about a rare bird sighting. You tell a birding friend then they call a birding friend and so on. You had to rely on things like field guides and tape recorders to identify birds. Some of the old timers still do it that way. I'm stuck somewhere in between. I use some technology but I miss some of those old ways. The Black-necked Stilt and Roseate Spoonbill in photos 4 and 5 reported to me by phone by a fellow birder (although it was actually a text). 

Seeing rare birds is nice but find them through pure serendipity might be the most rewarding way. I found my first Sandhill Cranes strictly by chance while out on a walk. 

This American White Pelican flew right over my backyard while I was cutting the grass! In most cases rare bird is a relative term. The birds I posted here are rare to me but may be common in other places.

Lost In An Ocean Of Birding

I haven't gotten out that much this month and have been kind of aimless when I did. I was hoping to find a particular species when I visited Hammonasset but it was one of those-"You should have been here yesterday" scenarios. In other news: Hammonasset means "where we dig holes in the ground" in the Algonquian language. 
I was actually looking for winter ducks at a pond when this Belted Kingfisher got in my way so I took his photo gave him a bit of a haircut while I was at it. There was well over 100 Ruddy Ducks in the pond that day.

Next big thing to look forward to will be the Audubon Christmas counts in December. Until then, I just plan to stick to the basics.

Sneaky Sparrow And A Touch Of Foliage

I managed to spend a little time looking for migrating sparrows in October. The top one is a Vesper Sparrow. It has some similarities to a Savannah Sparrow but is distinguished by that bold eye ring. It doesn't have that yellow on the side of the face like Savannahs often do. These are less commonly seen and seem a little more shy than some of its cousins.

Here's a Savannah Sparrow. they have fine streaking on the breast and often show yellow on the side of their face. Not always though. They also like to perch on top of things like fences. I appreciate that. it makes life a little easier.

I don't know what happened to foliage mania this year. I didn't hear much about it and didn't see a lot of it. I did find a touch of color while out on an early morning walk in Maromas village. November is already here! This month will be a good time to continue looking for interesting migrating waterfowl.

I spent some time wandering around the old tobacco fields. They don't grow tobacco there any more but do use them for fruits and vegetables. I found some interesting birds out there including American Pipits and Purple Finches. I enjoyed watching a pair of Northern Flickers spending time on this evergreen.

A male House Finch stayed at the top performing guard duty for all.

A few of the old buildings still remain. Many a teenager worked in these tobacco fields back in the day, myself included. It was a dirty job but it was a way to make money. 

Eventually there will be nothing left to these old tobacco sheds but fortunately, local historians have captured a pictural record of them. 

Connecticut Shade Tobacco