Book Review: 1001 Secrets Every Birder Should Know

A New Book Review. I had the pleasure of seeing Sharon "Birdchick" Stiteler at the Connecticut Ornithological Association's Annual Meeting (http://www.ctbirding.org/) this past March.  While she spoke only briefly about her book, the publication date was forthcoming, she did talk about lessons and adventures she's had from birding.  Lessons and adventures as far and away as Kazakhstan and as nearby as her home-base of the Twin Cities Metro Area. Stiteler embodies an enthusiasm in her speech about birding and nature that is quite infectious.  It makes her an excellent speaker and ambassador for the birding and natural world.

Her latest effort is 1001 Secrets Every Birder Should Know.  This work is definitely well geared towards the seasoned veteran and the beginner.  Funny stories, anecdotes, and useful trivia (is there such a thing) make the heart of this book one that occupies a very useful space on my bookshelf.  It is one that I will definitely be using again and again as I try to figure out some birding mysteries and occurrences.   For the Novice Birder, this is a must read!  The different tips and pointers are essential to helping you figure birds out and where are the places to be!  I know I will be using the book as a guide to my future birding endeavors!

In the end, Stiteler has put together a nice read about the in's and out's of birding.  One that informs, makes you laugh, and pushes you to the next level of birding.  Enjoy the read!

(C) Sharon "Birdchick" Stiteler and Perseus Book Group

The Next Book Review is the Nature Principle by Richard Louv

Learning to Teach

This past weekend marked the first time I lead people on a bird walk.  I hadn't really done it before and I was quite nervous.  What if there were no birds?  What if it rained?  What if no one showed?  Well, all those fears aside, I caught a couple of lucky breaks.  Weather was good, people showed, and even better, the birds showed!  It was a quick one hour walk around a local state park but we got some impressive birds.  Wood Thrush, Prairie Warbler, Black-and-White Warblers were all out and calling.  It was great to see.  But the thing I appreciated the most was that throughout the walk, the other people on the walk were excited and enthralled by every bird we saw.  Cardinals, Downy Woodpeckers, Tufted Titmice were enchanting to them and helped me appreciate how much birding can connect us to nature.  I know that I'd like to lead more walks and I hope I get the opportunity soon!  In the mean time, enjoy some of my recent photos!

Lovely Shorebirds

A Tern

Terns and Turnstones

Fighting Orioles

Room to Spare

So this post has been a long time coming.  I've been working for a long time at becoming a better birder, naturalist, and outdoor enthusiast.  For this year, I set the goal of getting my life list up to 300 Birds and my Year list up to 200.  Its been slow going with my list and ebird has been a tremendous help.  Its helped me keep an excellent record of my birds and where I've seen them.  So I am pleased to announced that I've met both Goals.  My Life List stands at 307 and my Year List Stands at 216.

So here's an update of the Birds that got me over the hump:
Cerulean Warbler
Veery
White-Eyed Vireo
And all the Texas Birds I got last weekend

A Cerulean Warbler (C) Mdf

Veery (C) All about Birds - Cornell Lab of Ornithology

White-Eyed Vireo (C) Alastair Rae

The Origin Story

So, a beginning, a very good place to start. For me, this journey began as a quaint fascination a few years ago. But I want to stick to the topic, what is birding and how did I get involved. I've always noticed the birds around me but rarely took the time to think about them and beyond basic recognition. So how did I go from that to someone who's interested in looking for specific birds and going on hikes to look for birds. As with most things, there are no simple beginnings and several things came together to really peak my interest in birds.

Well, since I have no easy answers, I will tell you what I saw today. 3 bald eagles over my house. And while pursuing them, i saw the most amazing thing, the courtship behavior. For those unfamiliar with this behavior, take a moment and google it or look in Arkive.org for a good video of the behavior. Nonetheless, seeing this behavior, while sitting stuck between a busy road and a lake, i was struck with how beautiful birds and nature can be. Often, when I've gone out, I've felt conscious of the people wondering what I've been doing, but today, I felt like stopping all of them and asking them to look and see the eagles soaring and flying. Maybe next time...