A good read

I just finished Kingbird Highway by Kenn Kaufmann. It was a book about Kenn Kaufman and his hitch hiking travels in the early seventies to go bird watching, just when this "sport" was starting to get recogonized. He had interesting adventures and met many people who were extremely enthuastic about birding which help him hone his skills as he criss crossed his way across North America.-- It is a really good book and really made me want to watch birds more. The way he could describe and identify was just amazing and inspired me to want to more with my birding skills.

Listening

It was about dusk when we were rapping things up in the boat yard. There is a small pond there and the birds were chattering away in the surrounding trees. I was able to idenitfy some cardinals and I think an eastern phoebe. I saw a few others but was too far away to get a really good look. What I really liked was being able to sit there and close my eyes and hear all of the bird songs surrounding me. It was so relaxing a peaceful. It is fun to identify, but just as fun to enjoy the amazing songs these little guys send out.

The backyard

We have been sitting is Stow, OH for a couple of weeks. We have only gone out once to do some birding and did not come up with much, but it was nice to get out and listen to all the birds. We are staying with Terry's folks and they have a nice backyard and have several feeders. We have been able to watch the finches, cardinals, blue jays and chickadees get their fill of food. We have even seen a hummingbird a few times. It is just so nice to sit out on the sun porch and watch and listen to the birds. It is very relaxing and you can't help but smile and feel very close to nature.

Buff-bellied Hummingbird

These guys flew around so fast!! We had a hard time keeping up with them, but they would settle on a branch or at a feeder and they were wonderful to look at. When they flew around they made a high "tip, tip" sound.

Great Kiskadee

These guys made their rounds. They were flying everywhere and constantly singing. They had one loud call, but usually they sounded just like their name... over and over and over again. The funny thing was that when we went 30 miles south of this area there were none. Very interesting.

Tri-colored Heron

We saw this guy a couple of times. The thing I love watching is when they are eating. They can stand so still and stick their neck out so far, it really is something to see.

Black-necked Stilts

We have seen these birds in a few different places. They are very fun to watch while they are walking around and searching for food.

Black-bellied Whistling Duck

To see this little family of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks was quite a treat. We had seen some flying overhead a couple of nights before, but to be able to see them up close was great.

Edinburg World Birding Center

This was our last stop on Tuesday. We were still waiting for work in Southern Texas and thought that we would check this place out. It was again very hot and there was not much of a breeze, but it was a nice place. It was a combination city park and birding area, so it was very easy for us to park. There were several ponds that were filled with reclaimed water that was a nice draw for the birds, expecially water and wading birds. We saw a few herons and egrets. We got a Neotropic Cormorant, a new one for us, and some Pied-billed Grebes. There was one bird we saw that really made my day. We had seen them fly over head a couple of days before, but now we saw them chilling out in the water with their young. We saw a family of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks!!! The chicks were so cute, they looked like big, fluffy bumble bees. Being stuck in the Rio Grande Valley for four days ended up not being nearly as bad as we thought it would be and we look forward to going back again to search out more birds!!!

Harlingen Arroyo Colorado

We spent the past two days in the wonderful South Texas heat looking for birds and being carried away by bugs!! Yesterday we went during the day and then back in the evening and saw a good number of birds. The one that I was really excited to see was the Black-bellied Whistling Duck. We saw a few flocks flying over head and between the markings we saw and the songs we heard it was a no brainer that that was what we were seeing. It was a really cool thing to witness. We saw many birds that we had already seen like White-winged Doves, Great Kiskadees and a Green Heron. We went back today and heard many birds that we just could not find in the trees. It was still a lot of fun and a great way to spend an afternoon, even if it was in the low 100's.

Quinta Mazatlan

What an amazing place and a lucky find. This is part of the World Birding Center in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas. Quinta Mazatlan means "country estate" in Spanish and it was built in the 1930's. The city of McAllen bought the property in 1998 and it recently opened as part of the World Birding Center. Trails wind their way around this 15 acre property and it is a wonderful urban oasis for birds; it is also part of the "fly way" during migration when birds are making their way north or south. With a heat index of about 108 degrees we amazingly spent four hours there! We picked up several new birds and just had fun sitting and watching them buzz around. We got a couple new hummingbirds. They were so fast we were not sure if we would identify them, but they would perch on a branch or hang out on a feeder and we just watched. The largest bird that we saw was a Plain Chachalaca. There were a lot of them and they spent much time in the brush and trees. Their tail was a brilliant blue with white tips, very fun. Another exciting bird was the Great Kiskadee. It's head is bold with black and white stripes and it has a beautiful yellow belly. We were both very excited to see this one!! Today we are heading towards Brownsville, TX and are hoping to pick up a few more new birds!! Exciting, exciting!!!!

Wilson's Phalarope

This was a new bird for us and we studied it really hard. Terry used his new camera to take the picture and it allowed us to do research after we left. It is so much fun to see a new bird!!

American Avocets

We have seen these birds before and they are very fun to watch. They have long bills and they are curved up a little. When they feed they sweep their bills across the water.

Short-billed Dowitcher

We saw this guy in Wilcox, AZ. We had seen the Long-billed Dowitcher, so it was nice to see this one. We studied it really hard to make sure because it was a lifer for us.

El Paso, TX

There are several places to bird in this area. It seems like the best times are during migration periods, but we have been doing pretty well. All of the recent rains have made the places that are usually dry in the summer quite wet. Yesterday we picked up a couple new birds. We did see a peregrine flacon, but my favorite find was the wood duck. This was so exciting. They are usually found at this one pond (Crossroads Pond), but you never know what you are going to get to see. I think that we were seeing a whole family. It was so cool!!!!--- While we were out in this one park we did get to also see some long eared rabbits. They were HUGE!!!! They are tan, but have black on the tips of their ears and a little black on their feet and tail. It was very fun to watch them.

Arizona

We were excited to be in Southeastern Arizona. Terry got on line and saw that there was a lot of birding to be done. We stopped in Wilcox where there was a pond that was part of their water reclamation program. We saw several birds there. Some we had already seen, like-- blue heron, ruddy duck and avocet. We were able to add a short-billed dowitcher, wilson's phalarope and western meadowlark. The meadowlark has such a beautiful song and was very fun to listen to.--- Further into our stay in the area we stopped in Sonoita, AZ. There is not much of a town, but we stopped at the rest area there. We were able to see a say's phoebe, cassin's kingbird and a western kingbird. I always get SO excited when we see new birds. When things don't seem to be going really well anywhere else, seeing new birds sure makes me feel better!!

Birds seen so far this year!!

 Anhinga, American Avocet, Brewer's Blackbird, Red-winged Blackbird, Eastern and Western Bluebird, Bufflehead, Indigo Bunting, Canvasback, Crested Caracara, Northern Cardinal, Gray Catbird, Yellow-breasted Chat, Black- capped and Carolina Chickadee, American Coot, Double-crested Cormorant, Bronzed Cowbird, American Crow, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Long-billed Curlew, Dickcissel, Eurasian Collard Dove, Mourning Dove, Rock Dove, White-winged Dove, Long-billed Dowitcher, Ring-necked and Ruddy Duck, Bald Eagle, Cattle Egret, Great Egret, Little Egret, Snowy Egret, Cassin's Finch, House Finch, Purple Finch, Northern Flicker, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Great Crested Flycatcher, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Magnificent Frigatebird, Gadwall, Black-tailed Gnatchatcher, Common Goldeneye, American Goldfinch, Lesser Goldfinch, Canada Goose, Snow Goose, Boat-tailed Grackle, Common Grackle, Great-tailed Grackle, Eared Grebe, Horned Grebe, Blue Grosebeak, Laughing Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Red-tailed Hawk, Great Blue Heron, Anna's Hummingbird, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Glossy Ibis, White Ibis, Bule Jay, Steller's Jay, Dark-eyed Junco, Oregon form Dark-eyed Junco, American Kestrel, Killdeer, Eastern Kingbird, Common Loon, Black-billed Magpie, Mallard, Mexican Mallard, Purple Martin, Eastern Meadowlark, Hooded Merganser, Northern Mockingbird, Common Moorhen, White-breasted Nuthatch, Baltimore Oriole, Hooded Oriole, Orchard Oriole, Snowy Owl, American White Pelican, Brown Pelican, Ring-necked Pheasant, Black Phoebe, Eastern Phoebe, Northern Pintail, Gambel's Quail, Common Raven, Redhead, American Robin, Least Sandpiper, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Lesser Scaup, Northern Shoveler, Loggerhead Shrike, House Sparow, Vesper Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, European Starling, Black-necked Stilt, Wood Stork, Barn Swallow, Cave Swallow, Tree Swallow, Chimney Swift, White-throated Swift, Cinnamon Teal, Green-winged Teal, Least Tern, Eastern Towhee, Wild Turkey, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Prothonotary Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, Cedar Waxwing, American Wigeon, Downy Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Red-headed Woodpecker, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs

What we use

 When you go birding all you really need is a small bird book and a pair of binoculars. That is all Terry and I used for years and we had great fun.---- He bought me a pair of binoculars a couple of years ago and they are the best that I have ever had. They fit my face perfectly and I can easily focus in on what I want to see. They are a pair of Rare Bird by Tasco 9x25mm binoculars. They were through the National Audubon Society and he found a really good deal (of course).---
     Terry uses a pair of Bushnell 10x50 wide angle binoculars and really likes them. I have a harder time getting things focused for me and they are much wider than mine soI can't get them close enough to have good viewing.--- For the longest time the only bird book we had was the American Bird Conservancy's Field Guide All the Birds of North America. It is a great book and one that we always take out in the field. I know it so well that I can quickly turn to what I am looking at or the general vicinity of the type of bird.--- Since we have gotten a little more serious about our birding we have also picked up The Sibley Guide to Birds and the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America. They have both been able to help us narrow down and fine tune our bird watching. It has also been really nice to see the different variations and information in the books, it is has given us a greater understanding of the birding world.--- Terry also bought me a scope that we have a lot of fun with. It is an Eagle Optics and is very easy for both of us to use. We are looking forward to fine tuning our use of it and are hoping to start taking some pictures soon.--- When we go out just walking around Terry takes along his tripod. He was able to get a binocular mount and attach them right to it. He loves it and it helps to diminish some of his neck pain when we are out for a while.--- We also have various CD's and tapes to help us learn bird song and some programs that test you visually and aurally. I have a lot of fun with those. One program even helped us identify a bird after the fact.---  In the end all you really need is a little bit of time, a small bird book, a pair of binoculars and a little sense of adventure. Go out there and have some fun!!!!

Something new

I thought that it would be fun to have a running list of birds that we see and where. I also wanted people to know some of the books that we have read about other birders. There are some really intense folks out there. This will just be another outlet to let you know what we have been up to.