Birds • Page 4

Bird Journal 1/21/24

I got two Texas bird books from the library. What a dork

I actually don't think I saw a single bird today. Stupid rain

 

I FORGOT TO WRITE IN MY JOURNAL YESTERDAY OH NO

BIRD JOURNAL 1/23/2024

nothing really happened today. it rained so birds haven't been around. some dumb squirrel keeps trying to mess with the feeder, little bastards

 

my female cardinal is probably my favorite tattoo I have!

 

also you should call it your Biurnal instead of Bird Journal

 

urban dictionary strikes again

 

Bird Journal 1/23/2024

Well I took the kid to the bird store. Chatted it up with Bill, who remembered my name and introduced me to the other employee. Had to pay attention to the kid, there were lots of bird baths for her to stick her fingers into, wind chimes to clang around, etc. She had fun tho, she's into butterflies and birds and stuff.

told the guy about the binoculars agreement and he was like "only 29 more days!" when I left lol. it's actually 26 days but who is counting????

 

Bird Journal 1/24/2024

The bastards stole my feeder bell!!! Squirrels or raccoons, I'm not sure. It's not even in the yard somewhere. But it's been raining all week and it was only hanging on twine, so that likely didn't help either. With all the damn rain I haven't seen a bird in days!!!!!

 

your bird updates inspired me to refill our feeder, it had been since early Fall, and also download the Merlin Bird ID app. I'm also looking forward to going on some bird walks as the weather improves.

I have many fond memories of watching birds with my grandma. She would get so mad about squirrels stealing the food and would devise all sorts of contraptions to keep them from the feeders lol.

 

hell yeah! The app is so cool, literally just stand in your backyard and record and see what pops up.

turns out the bird bell feeder just straight up disintegrated in the constant rain. I went out there to look at it and the water bowl beneath it was just filled with seeds. I tossed it and refilled the water, there's a squirel out there gorging on the leftovers rn lol

 

Bird Journal 1/25/2024

The sun is out! No more rain! I was able to go out back and listen for a bunch of birds. Saw all the usual suspects, like House Finches, Cardinals, etc. There was a Mockingbird somewhere going absolutely nuts with the songs. Them birds are so loud and will dive bomb your ass if you're not paying attention

 

Bird Journal 1/26/2024

My brother-in-law went up to his parents with my sister and their kid and he found an old pair of binoculars his dad had. Hefty pair of Bushnells made in Japan from like the 80s, maybe even 70s. Three damn pounds lol. 7 x 35 aren't bad measurements. He said he'd bring that back and they could be my starter pair until I get the good ones.



pic from Google but they are units lol

 

Loving these journal posts!

What makes good bird binos? Lightweight and powerful?

And how do you know so many bird species yet you mention you are new to the hobby?! I know a few, the rest is just like “woah, cool blue bird!” or “check out the rad feathers on that thing!”

You might like the book ‘Bird Therapy’ — it was available free for me on Libby. Lots of talk about bird IDing, the hobby itself, etc. with the main thread being positive impact on mental (and physical) wellness.

 

Thanks for reading lol I'm treating it as a literal journal of my birding journey and assuming no one is reading them but it will be fun to read back at year's end

I still don't know a lot about binoculars, but they are measured by two numbers:



After carrying a pair around my neck without a strap for even just 2.5 hours a few weeks ago, the resulting headache convinced me I prefer something light. These are the two articles I keep coming back to:

https://www.audubon.org/news/how-choose-your-binoculars

https://www.audubon.org/gear/binocular-guide

It's a whole different world (as can be said with most niche hobbies) once you deep dive into bins. Personally I probably won't spend anymore than $200.

As far as IDing birds, I've been going into our backyard every day since like, October and listening to birds with the Merlin app. When you get the same birds every day making the same calls/songs, it gets pretty easy to recognize the common ones. So yeah I can ID a Cardinal or a Blue Jay or Grackle but those are all super common and I see/hear them every day. If I went into your backyard I'd hear a bunch of stuff I'd have no clue how to ID, which to me makes traveling to new places even more exciting.

I love Libby, I'll definitely check that book out!

 

Bird Journal 1/27/24

Nicer weather means birds have been out in force. Saw a bunch of white-winged doves in the neighbor's yard - they're very common but I haven't seen them around our neighborhood. My wife saw a big shadow fly over the yard, and around here that either means a red-shouldered hawk or a black vulture. I figured it was a hawk because they prey on doves and they were kinda hiding. Sure enough, I heard a hawk cry somewhere above the trees later.

It's always easy to tell when there's a hawk around if you have blue jays in the area, because they're known for imitating hawks calls and a bunch of them will just start going off if they hear a hawk, it's really loud and annoying lol

 

Bird Journal 1/28/24

Brother-in-law brought home the binoculars! I'll take a picture of them later. Tried it out and it's wild being able to see so well. I can see the bark on the tree in the backyard like it's right in front of me. He also brought home a little compact pair that are 8 x 21 that are kid-sized.

It's crazy how good condition they're in. They're definitely from the 80's and the user manual and limited lifetime warranty paper is still in the case.

 

Bird Journal 1/29/24

Hell yeah gonna go on another guided tour this weekend. This time, I have my own binoculars, ancient and heavy as they are. Last time it was some nature trails, but this time it's an actual bird sanctuary. There are designated bird blinds and bird houses and ponds. There are 289 species!! Map of the area:

 

Bird Journal 1/30/24

My wife, bless her heart. She also downloaded the Merlin app to indulge me. Now I get screenshots from her while I'm working all the time of rare birds I never pick up! I think most of the time it's not accurate because the app can think one thing sounds like another (it thought our neighbor's chickens were American crows), but she's out here finding Swamp Sparrows and Brown Creepers and all I see are a bunch of dumb doves

 

OH DAMN I FORGOT ANOTHER DAY

 

Bird Journal 2/1/24

...there's really not much to tell. Feels like all the damn birds left after I got the old binoculars. They're hiding from me.

Well anyways this is the month I get real binoculars....if I'm still into this as a hobby by the 18th

 

My girlfriend does bird stuff for a living so naturally I’ve come to love them too. Not surprising, but our backyard has been full of juncos lately.

 

Bird Journal 2/2/2024

One of my oldest friends texted me today: "hate you"

Followed up with a picture of two different bird feeders and some feed she'd bought. She'd seen my posts on Instagram and downloaded the Merlin app and got addicted to it lol. I told her that I haven't even bought a legit feeder, and asked if she bought the stuff because of me or if she was always interested in birds. She said it might have always there but it was repressed and my posts didn't help. She said she was rotating her hummingbird feeders thrice daily during the big freeze (she lives near Seattle). She's crazier than me!!!

I showed her how to use eBird to show hotspots around her and she was overwhelmed. I love data!

 

Bird Journal 2/3/24

Tomorrow's the day!!! Going on my second bird tour at a bird sanctuary. I think there are only gonna be like 5 of us and I'll be the scrubbiest one there with my three pound bins from the 80's but who cares. Hoping to add like 15 new birds to my list by day's end, minimum

 

Downloaded my first bird pack on the Merlin app. So cool. Also found some binoculars that have no business looking at birds 20 feet away but still fun to use. Saw (and heard) some ravens, mocking birds, hummingbirds, and scrub jays in the hard today. The binoculars do give you a completely different perspective.

 

Hell yeah this rules!!!

 

Bird Journal 2/4/24

Today ruled so hard, I added 10 birds to my life list. I'll do a more detailed write-up tomorrow but I had a ton of fun. Here's the list or species, route, and distance of today's trip. Some of them have photos included:

https://ebird.org/checklist/S160633900