Bird Watching and Bird Photography

[heyduke]

We are not on the road yet but plan to be so full time in March and yes I am a birder...
does this mean i have to go to meetings now

[RVThere]

Regarding MM's unknown ducks, my son also disagreed with my guess. However, he did not have any identification either. He said coloring resembles pintails but they don't have the distinctive tail.

The mystery continues...

[HUMMINGBIRD]

Wow I'm very happy that several people have taken an interest in this thread.
Rocky, Fraser would be delighted to give you insider info on birding in Arizona. He is active in WhatBird.com. Fraser's user name there is PHOTGOG. Fraser is beginning to take an interest in this thread too. After all he's the Bird Brain in this house!
Regarding the ducks he said it would be a great idea to post them in WhatBird.com to get the experts to give you an ID.
Jim...thanks for the info on "FALL OUT" I'm even dreaming of being in the area's you suggested in 2011.
Hummingbird aka Shari

[HUMMINGBIRD]

Heyduke, Thanks for jumping in......
Just wanted to gather some interested birders/ RVers through this thread. It's working :-) Who knows may be we can arrange a meet up some where in the future.

Shari aka Hummingbird

[HUMMINGBIRD]

About the ducks.....I was told they look like a domestic cross breed with wild ducks..This happens often. ??? Just an idea

Im ready to see a FALL OUT in South Texas!! Love this Buntings!

[Elkhartjim]

Originally Posted by HUMMINGBIRD

About the ducks.....I was told they look like a domestic cross breed with wild ducks..This happens often. ??? Just an idea

Im ready to see a FALL OUT in South Texas!! Love this Buntings!

That is also my wifes opinion.

If you ever get to witness a fall out, you'll never forget it. Sometimes you have to shuffle your feet along to keep from stepping on them.

[HUMMINGBIRD]

Jim, that is amazing.....what are the chances of seeing such a thing down there? and what is the best time period? Shari aka Hummingbird

[Elkhartjim]

Originally Posted by HUMMINGBIRD

Jim, that is amazing.....what are the chances of seeing such a thing down there? and what is the best time period? Shari aka Hummingbird

We're not betting people but we have reservations April 15th for two weeks.

Judy had bird "burn out" last spring while we were there.

[Deafdude]

Greetings All you birders

I am rather new to this board and I just found this Thread... All I got to say is WOW....

I can't yet say I am a full blown "Birder" YET! Let me tell you a short story

I spent 20 years in the Air Force. My Mom was totally deaf. Deafness and Hard of Hearing (HOH) runs in my family. Needless to say I have been extremely HOH. Now I have a Cochlear Implant (CI) in my right ear and soon to get one in my left ear.

I have not heard the songs of any birds for most of my life.

I received my CI in July of 2009 and I have been learning to hear all over again. On of my major problems in learning to hear is I hear these noises but I don't know what is making those noises. I have been reading lips and am extremely good at it... but I just can't read them there birds lips. Well Duh - birds don't have lips! But I thought birds' beaks with would move with the sounds that then make... That doesn't happen either.

In this last year I have been hearing birds for the first time. I love listening to them! I bought one of these books in which you dial in the number of the bird and it plays the sounds that bird sings. I really enjoy this book.

Now I need to find something like a Mentor to teach me about birding. I live in southwestern Illinois and will be spending the winter in Zephryhills Florida. I hope to see what kind of birds I can find down there.

So if you are looking for a job let me know.

Sonny

[Rocky Larson]

We use Thayer's Gold edition DVD prior to hitting the field. This a link from his website: Birding Web Sites


http://www.thayerbirding.com/

[Elkhartjim]

Originally Posted by Deafdude

Greetings All you birders

Now I need to find something like a Mentor to teach me about birding. I live in southwestern Illinois and will be spending the winter in Zephryhills Florida. I hope to see what kind of birds I can find down there.

So if you are looking for a job let me know.

Sonny

Check this Outfitter_Customer_Select or Trails | West | Great Florida Birding Trail
If you can locate a bird sanctuary in the area you will be staying, there are always volunteers eager to help. Go luck.

[RVThere]

My birding son is way more technoligically advanced so he has gone pretty much entirely digital for his birding information. On his Apple iTouch, he has iBird and Birdseye applications loaded which allow him to ID a bird and immediately link it to a sound.

Sonny - you may want to try that approach in learning to link the sounds and birds.

[HUMMINGBIRD]

YESSSS yes Sonny, I agree having Ibird on your smart phone or i pod is an excellent tool. I think you would like it. Remember I'm not the birder I'm a tag along SOB hehehehehe... Fraser is an identity contributor to the new Ibird application that's coming soon....(i think) More then 50 of his photos are used as ID photos. You might also enjoy WhatBird | identify birds | bird identification guide | north america. They welcome new birders. You can learn a lot by reading threads there too.
Thanks to Jim's info we are planning to be in South Florida in April. Hope we can connect with some Irv2 down there too.
We're leaving Saturday 11/20 for 1 week in Florida, 1 week cruise western Caribbean and then 1 week cruise eastern Caribbean. I'm looking forward to beach and poolside time. Fraser will be seeking new birds for his life list. Shari

[MonacoMama]

A couple of the Moderators here know I have become interested in the birds...so they may already know that I decided to keep a photo log of the birds I am able to snap a photo of...and came up with this ...I hope I am able to add a bird a day from here on out...
(My photos may not be as good as many of your photos...but it is still fun to do!)