About Birding: Part II

Now for some other observations about birding.

Number two: Birders like accessories.

I'm not sure why this is the case. Could it be that they have more disposable income, given their age? Could it be that the neck strap on their pair of binoculars is excruciatingly painful, therefore making a shoulder harness absolutely necessary?

Does it matter? You can get one at Wild Birds Unlimited for $24.99. This is good to know. A time will come when I want to sell things to birders, so it's nice to know they like to buy things.

Now, if I can just spot birds. I had trouble with this while I was out, but I was using stadium binoculars, which have a magnification of 3-4X. According to the reading I've been doing, it's better to have something in the 7-8X range, like one of these.

Who knew?

Oh, another observation. Number Three: Biologists are geeky coolness. Our guide for the morning was Chris. I had a feeling if he weren't being a BIRD guide, he'd more easily do the kind of exploring I prefer, which means stopping for anything and everything that looked interesting. But while we were out, he identified plant and animal life, told us interesting facts about barred owls (their hearing is so acute they can hear your heatbeat from 5 feet away), and he explained why trees that are drought stressed will uproot in a heavy rain.

Besides, he knew a lot about birdcalls.

If you've never listed to bird calls before, I recommend two sites. One is the site hosted by Cornell University's lab of ornithology, called All About Birds. Cornell University is the organization that Wild Birds Unlimited partners with as well, and with the right software downloaded, you can listen to all kinds of birds.

Another features all the birds of North America - WhatBird.com. I like this one because it also has a bird identification feature, which lets you narrow down birds you've spotted by color, size, habitat, etc., in the hopes of locating the birds you saw on the trail. I haven't put this to good use yet, but I hope to in the future.

Finally, I want to mention that the Fernbank Science Center is pretty neat. If you live in the Atlanta area, it's a great place for kids, gardeners, and all budding or closet scientists. After the birdwatching, I relaxed for a show in the planetarium, to find out what was going on in the night sky. On Friday nights, if the sky is clear, they invite you to come to the Observatory. They do all kinds of exhibits on butterfly gardens, composting, the latest Mars mission and native plants and animals.

And if you aren't a closet scientist, maybe you should be. There's nothing like hands on experience to get you interested in your surroundings. There are worse hobbies.

--Laura