The Passionate Birder: April 2011

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Birding in the Age of The Internet - Webcams

Birdwatching has evolved to the point where you can view birds without ever leaving your home! Now I for one love to go in the field and find birds - there is no substitute for that experience. But I also find it interesting that you can see birds on webcams - and I really like this phenomenon. The recent worldwide publicity regarding the "nestcam" that allowed viewing of the hatching of Bald Eagle babies in Iowa by thousands and thousands of people around the world was remarkable. I think it promotes a love of birds and helps create a will to preserve them because they are so enjoyable to have around.

Here are a couple of websites that maintain updated lists of webcams that are tailored to birdwatching:

List of Active Nestcams

Website list - Choose species

Here is an example nestcam - Wood Duck in North Carolina

Bird Feeder Webcams

Here is an example feeder cam - Flagstaff, AZ

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National Geographic Guide to Birding Hot Spots of the United States By Mel White

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Invest in Zeiss Quality!

Carl Zeiss Optical Inc Victory Compact Model Binoculars (10x25 T) From Carl Zeiss Optical Inc

Carl Zeiss Conquest Binocular (8x30) From Carl Zeiss

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In the Garden

Pissarro, Camille

12 in. x 9 in.

Buy This Allposters.com

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Mediterranean Arch

Kim, Sung

24 in. x 18 in.

Buy This Allposters.com

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Birding Adventure Books

Birding and books have been lifelong passions for me, so this post combines the two. Here are a half-dozen books to ignite the light of your dreams.The first five deal specifically with birding adventures and the sixth is a green adventure book. Simply click on the title link for more information. Enjoy!

Fifty Places to Go Birding Before You Die: Birding Experts Share The World's Greatest Destinations By Chris Santella

Santella presents some of the greatest bird-watching venues in the United States and abroad through interviews with prominent birders, from tour leaders and conservationists to ornithologists and academics. Interviewees include ornithologist Kenn Kaufman; David Allen Sibley, author and illustrator of The Sibley Guide to Birds; Rose Ann Rowlett, the “mother of modern birding”; John Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology; and Steve McCormick, president and CEO of The Nature Conservancy.

The places vary from the urban (New York City’s Central Park) to the mystical (the cloud forests of Triunfo in Chiapas, Mexico) to the extremely remote (the sub-Arctic islands of New Zealand). The book includes 40 gorgeous photographs that capture the vibrancy of our feathered friends, and the beautiful places they call home.

Global Birding: Traveling the World in Search of Birds By Les Beletsky

A general "how-to" book for international birding is absent. This unprecedented new book by top-selling author Les Beletsky (Birds of the World, Birdsongs) will aim to explain why birders are interested in going to other countries and where they like to go. It will act as a "bridge" for domestic birders, allowing them to build on their exciting new knowledge as beginner birders by accessing other countries to see species they cannot see at home. The book, in six chapters, will describe each continent with respect to birds and birding, and tell what kinds of birds birders seek out in those places, along with practical pointers on international birding contacts and field guides. Engaging sidebars throughout the book, tell short stories of birding adventures looking for special birds or unique birding locations.

Top 100 Birding Sites of the World By Dominic Couzens

King penguins in Antarctica, cassowaries in Queensland, cocks-of-the rock in Peru. This gorgeous book describes the one hundred best bird-watching sites on the planet. Introductory sections give an overview of each continent or region, and then each site is listed and ranked on a country-by-country basis. The entries all include a full description, a list of key species, a map, and information on the best time of year to visit. Lavish color photographs capture rare and elusive species as well as some of the world's best avian spectacles, such as the snow goose blizzard at Bosque del Apache and the flocks of lesser flamingos on Africa's Rift Valley lakes. Many birding sites are included for their unique avifauna, endemics, and oddities--the Seychelles, Andasibe in Madagascar, Taveuni in Fiji, and the Alaka`i wilderness in Hawaii, among others. With its truly global coverage--of the huge flocks of wintering geese in Britain and the United States, the cranes in both Japan and France, the "river of raptors" passage at Veracruz in Mexico, and much more--this book will inform and inspire anyone who plans to visit, or who dreams of visiting, these extraordinary locations.

100 Birds to See Before You Die By David Chandler, Dominic Couzens

What is the fastest-growing outdoor activity in the U.S.? Snowboarding? Mountain biking? No. It’s bird watching! There are currently 51.3 million dedicated birders in the U.S. with their binoculars focused on the skies. Sure to appeal to this growing flock, 100 Birds to See Before You Die is the ultimate birdwatcher’s book.
• Selected by two world-renowned birding authors, the top 100 birds include avian species that are endangered, exceptional common species, and others that have achieved legendary status.
• You won’t need binoculars to spot the huge and powerful, endangered Philippine Eagle or the brightly plumed Andean Cock-of-the-Rock. Each of the 100 featured species is captured in remarkable full-color photographs in their natural habitat.
• This fascinating book combines hard-working detail with more unusual facts and mythological anecdotes, making it much more than a typical bird watching book.
• Detailed entries describe the natural history of each bird, including size, distribution, habitat, classification, population and conservation status.

All Things Reconsidered: My Birding Adventures By Roger Tory Peterson

Roger Tory Peterson’s unique perspective on birding comes to life in these highly personal narratives. Here he relates his adventures during a lifetime of birding and traveling the world to observe and record nature. Though Peterson was widely known for his illustrations, this collection reminds us to reconsider his accomplishments as a photographer, for Peterson was nearly as passionate about photography as he was about painting. The essays and photographs included here were carefully selected by Bill Thompson III, the editor of Bird Watcher’s Digest, which ran the column “All Things Reconsidered” during the last twelve years of Peterson’s life.

Clean Breaks: 500 new ways to see the world (Rough Guide Travel Guides) By Jeremy Smith, Richard Hammond

Clean Breaks unearths 500 unique experiences and new ways to travel that make a real difference to the lives of local people and the planet. It lets you discover a wealth of new adventures from sleeping in houseboats in Kerala and witnessing the zebra migration in Botswana to taking the train-hotel from Paris to Madrid. Whether you fancy living like a local in a tipi with Native American Indians, riding with cowboys in Venezuela or staying in a bunkhouse barn in the Brecon Beacons, this guide is packed with the how, where and when to plan your next extraordinary experience. Authors Richard Hammond, Green Travel Correspondent for "The Guardian", and Jeremy Smith, former Editor of "The Ecologist Magazine", combine cultural sensitivity with practical advice, hand-picking the best hotels, resorts, and tours run by earth-friendly people who are passionate about what they do, assuring a spectacular choice of inspirational travel ideas without compromising on the quality of your holiday. Whether you wish to experience a climate-friendly home-stay or simply want to see the world in a new light; make your next trip a clean break.

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Do All The Good You Can

24 in. x 18 in.

Buy This Allposters.com

Journey

Buy This at Allposters.com

Map Adventures I
Susan Osborne
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Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Make Your Garden Hummingbird Heaven

Here are books to guide you towards achieving a very enjoyable goal - attracting nature's little crown jewels into your yard. You will end up with a beautiful garden and beautiful visitors! Cumulatively, I have spent many, many enjoyable hours observing these fascinating creatures - now you can too - with these books! It is well worth the reward in pleasure that you will receive back in return for your efforts.

Hummingbird Gardens: Turning Your Yard Into Hummingbird Heaven (21st-Century Gardening Series)