by    13

The rewards of birding

9000 birds on his list!Tom Gullick hits 9000 species with Wallece's Fruit-Dove

How do you measure your success as a birder?  How do you get recognition of other birders and non-birders? Is there some sort of measurement to quantify the experience?

The easiest way, is to keep track of how many birds you had seen. The number allows you to compare yourself with other birders. This is known as competitive birding.

Even if there is no competition and you only compete with yourself, the listing game is the most prominent way how birding is practiced today. The number, of course, reveals nothing of the birder’s actual skills in identifying birds.

Tom Gullick (above) recently hit a landmark of 9000 species seen when he saw Wallace’s Fruit-Dove (top photo). This is truly amazing! 9000 species of the around 10,000 species that exist in the world.

But such numbers do  not impress non-birders, nor do they attract more people to the hobby. What is the point with putting a mark in front of the name of the bird in the field guide or on a birdlist indicating that you have seen it? What is it good for? Why would anyone else care? Why would a non-birder even pretend to listen or pay attention when the birder brags about his new life-birds?

Having said this, there are of course birders, who are well recognized for their birding skills. They are bird guides and authors of bird books. But most people who throw themselves into the hobby need some sort of measurement – and that is when the listing game starts

The digi-birders

Maybe we need a new term. I have been bashed for labeling those who start taking photos of birds birders. Let’s introduce a new word. Digi-birders – who get hooked by taking digital photos of birds.
The new digi-birding boom has put things in a new perspective. Just as mentioned in an earlier post of with a kid getting into birding via a digital point and shoot camera, the same is true if we talk about recruiting new birders among adults.  Taking interesting photographs of birds becomes far more interesting than counting numbers of birds seen. Sharing the photos on the internet where everyone can see them even your non-birding friends. You gain recognition by sharing your bird photos. The more shares and likes you get for a photo on Facebook, the greater your satisfaction and the recognition of your peers.

Frankly, which of the two models do you think works better for recruiting your non-birding friends to take interest? Are you sure they want to hear about your last lifebird you added to your list? Or do you think they’d be more interested in seeing the great photo of a bird you took yesterday. They certainly would not share your Facebook update of a new birder milestone of species seen, but they may just share your great bird photo – of say a Wallece’s Fruit-Dove.

Internet and especially Facebook has made it easier for bird photos to gain recognition and it is this mechanism which will make interest in birds massive.

Digi-birders could adopt birding ethics.

Can you see how powerful this change is? Don’t you agree in this light there could be millions of new birders in the coming years – if including also bird photographers into the birder label? At least labeling the bird photographer as potential birder – or at least digi-birder.

What is important is that there will be a lot of people who will care about birds. That will be more people interested in conservation. It is up to us, the traditional birders to be there for the new digi-birders to teach them birding and identification skills and to introduce them to the ethics of birding. The impact on the birds and the environment by our presence needs to be looked after. Birders in general have good ethics and practice a code of conduct and can/should transmit this to other users of the natural areas.

Top photo: Wallece’s Fruit-Dove by Mehd Halaouate. Swedish readers will find Mehd’s wife’s blog about living in Indonesia interesting.

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This was the seventh pre intro-post in the birdwatching from the beginning series. There are one more intro chapter to go.  In the next post, I will make an outline of the coming posts. I hope to get a lot of guest bloggers to treat different topics. Please make sure you tell your friends of this series so they can be with us from the start.  You are allowed to share the posts via email, or on Facebook, Google plus and Twitter. Check the sharing options below.
If you liked this post, you may want to  subscribe to this blog.  The launch is on January 1, 2013.  A good way to start the new year.

Gunnar  Engblom
Connect with Gunnar on Facebook or Twitter or kolibriexp@gmail.com

by    2

Digital photography – nature watching revolution.

More and more people get interested in nature.

It is easy to see that it is digital photography which is the engine of the new trend. It is likely that people who get into birds via digital photography, also start getting into plants and bugs, because it is easy to take photos and no one need to spend money on film anymore.  The nature watchers of the future should  become much broader and more knowledgeable than traditional birders.  Similar photographic challenges with dragonflies or butterflies, are getting very popular. It is the digital photography which has made this possible.

It is also interesting to see that in countries which lack a traditional birdwatching  movement,  such as Brazil, Thailand, China, Costa Rica,  nature watching through digital photography has become massive in recent years. The national parks and nature reserves of these countries are full of local people with massive cameras and blinds – all intending to take superb pictures of birds.

How do we get new and young members to our bird club?

Meanwhile, in the traditional stronghold countries such as US, UK, Netherlands and Scandinavia, there are often complaints that there is little regeneration of young birders. In fact every so often one hears the birders saying that the hobby is dying, as membership figures of bird clubs dwindle and the average age among the members is way over 60.

But if the birdclubs instead concentrated on recruiting new birders with a focus on bird photography and sharing photos on social media there is enormous potential for growth.  As the potential is so large, it will also save the “old school” birding which considers good birding is about nurturing field identification skills.  There will always be people who shine if enough people get into the “game”, but if we – the birders – close the doors and continue to promote birding the old way, the risk is that we shall not be competitive enough in the digital age. The kids will continue to play video games and be stuck behind the computers and the TV sets instead of discovering nature.
Bird photography in contrast is cool!

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This was the sixth pre intro-post in the birdwatching from the beginning series. There are two more intro chapters to go.  Please make sure you tell your friends of this series so they can be with us from the start.  Share the posts via email, or on Facebook, Google plus and Twitter. Check the sharing options below.
If you liked this post, you may want to  subscribe to this blog.  Soon the real chapters will begin.

Gunnar  Engblom
Connect with Gunnar on Facebook or Twitter or kolibriexp@gmail.com

by    2

Why birds?

How to start birding – intro 5. Why birds?

While digital photography allows us to shoot all types of nature and it is in fact easier to shoot bugs and plants than birds, it is still birds which stand out as most popular among nature watching.  Perhaps because it is possible to put a name on practically every bird you would photograph.  The literature available for identification is complete for birds, while for plants or bugs either the share numbers of species are not manageable, the identification from photos not straight-forward or the literature incomplete or hard to get access to.  Birds come in manageable numbers and can quite safely be identified to species.

Field guides for the beginner birder. Photo: USFWS Mountain-Prairie

Perhaps is it also the fascination people have for birds. Birds occupy every niche on the planet, birds are beautiful, birds represent hope, and birds accompany and give flavor to the changes of the seasons.  Birds represent freedom and we envy their ability to fly. Birds come in fascinating shapes and forms: From Hummingbirds to Penguins.  From Albatrosses to Warblers. (…click for a  larger image…)

Annas Hummingbird (Danny Perez), Emperor Penguin (Anne Froehlich), Bullers Albatross (Duncan - Angry Sunbird), Masked Yellowthroat (Nathas)

Taking all this into account, is there any wonder that birding is the part of nature watching which is most attractive to new adepts.  It is also a hobby you can bring with you anywhere in the world. Wherever you are there are always birds to see.

Top Photo: House Sparrows and Black-headed Gull.  Paris. Bird Mind Control by PhOtOnQuAnTiQuE -on Flickr.
Field guides for the beginner birders. Photo: USFWS Mountain-Prairie
Collage from  Flickr Creative Commons.  Annas Hummingbird (Danny Perez), Emperor Penguin (Anne Froehlich), Bullers Albatross (Duncan – Angry Sunbird), Masked Yellowthroat (Naathas)

This was the fifth pre intro-post in the birdwatching from the beginning series. If you liked this post, please consider subscribing to this blog, share the posts via email, or on Facebook, Google plus and Twitter, tell your friends and take your friends birding. Check the sharing options below.  Soon the real chapters in the blogseries will begin.

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Gunnar  Engblom
Connect with Gunnar on Facebook or Twitter or kolibriexp@gmail.com

by    2

Birding is easy. It is massive. Intro 4.

Birding is easy. It is massive.

The new type of birdwatching and naturewatching which concentrates on sharing photos on social media and learning as you go along, has the potential to become very popular and mainstream. In a way it already is. But there is little direction. It is also necessary for the existing (old school) community of birders to embrace the new trends and actively make birding inclusive.

Why? Because birdwatching needs to grow to counter act the increased threats on nature. Birding needs more ambassadors.  All human beings should care for birds, and we would have a better planet. More people would understand that it is necessary to save resources and to conserve nature. More people would understand the need to live in a more sustainable way. Birding is educational.

Online resource

The purpose with this blog series is to produce an online resource “how to become a birdwatcher in the digital age” in form of a free downloadable ebook. The ebook will reach a lot of people. If it is free and readily available there will be a lot of downloads. There ought to be a tremendous pool of people who would  download, if there are 47 million people in the US who care about birds enough to call themselves birdwatchers.
Yet, there are at best 40.000-50.000 serious birders if one add up all people who subscribe to email lists for birders.

We should really ask ourselves, what it is we are doing that keeps 99.9% of those interested in birds away from the birding network.
Should we try something new?  A free manual put together by a number of well-known birders, which focus on presenting all the birding resources one find on the internet and how one can get started by oneself and get some tutoring on the internet via for example Facebookgroups. A manual how to feed birds and make gardens that birds will love. A manual that helps you pick a better and not too expensive point and shoot camera. A manual to finding decent binoculars that suits you and your wallet. A manual that helps you find a bird club or a birding festival. Basically, a Birding 101 for the digital age.
That is something new, so let’s try that. I am not saying  it is the only way. Just one way of many. But it is new! And its free.

Share this

As a reader of this blog, you will have an important role. You are an ambassador for nature.  Subscribe to this blog, share the blog on list servers you participate in or share it on Facebook and Twitter, tell your friends and take your friends birding.

We are about to embark on a magical journey of naturewatching, and birds will be our main focus.

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Gunnar  Engblom
Connect with Gunnar on Facebook or Twitter or kolibriexp@gmail.com

 

by    15

How to start birding. Intro 3.

How to inspire a kid to get interested in birds and nature.

Say you have kids and you really would like them to become more interested in nature, but they are more into to TV and computer games.  You are tearing your hair with the potato couch kid. You read some manuals about birding, which all invariably recommend getting a pair of binoculars first of all.  You got $350 to spend. (You are a rich parent just for this argument).

Scenario 1. Binoculars.

You spend 350 dollars on a pair of binoculars and then drag the kid outdoors and show him some birds. Maybe he says “wow”… maybe he says “drag”….but when summer camp comes, he has invariably most likely already forgotten to pack his binoculars.

Scenario 2. Point and Shoot Camera

You picked up THIS EBOOK (forthcoming) and decided to spend 350 dollars instead on a point and shoot mega zoom camera. You drag the kid outdoors, let him take photos of plants and bugs using the macro, and dragonflies, butterflies and birds using the 35x optic zoom.  Then you post some of the photos on Facebook or he posts them on his blog. Maybe you will find a local Facebook groups for birds or dragonflies which can tell you what the species they are. You are met with respect, in spite of having no experience of either birds, nor dragonflies – and you don’t own a field guide (yet). The experts on the group tell you the field marks you should look for to clinch the ID.
The kid says wow! How can they know all this? Another question to the Facebook group and you are recommended some field guides applicable to your area.

Comes summer camp and the camera is the first thing to be packed. In fact he’d have it in his hand the entire trip, documenting every detail. Sure, he probably won’t be thinking of shooting birds at all….but because he can,  he clicks off some shots of a bird sitting on top of a tree, and when he zooms in, he can see it is a raptor. He shows his friends and they share it on his blog. Hey, it would be kind of cool to know what kind of raptor it is. Mom asks the Facebook group again. Red-tailed Hawk. Other kids, see his pics and also want a point and shoot camera. They also want to learn about the nature around them.

It is easier
It is cooler
A photo is tangible – and observation is not.
It possible to share it
It is viral.

But is it really birding?

I have gotten a lot of comments from birders, that this is not really birding. And maybe they are right. By sending off the picture to Facebook or an online forum and get the ID this way is a bit lazy.

Per definition by American Birding Association:  A birder is a person who is actively pursuing the hobby or sport of birding. Birding  is a sport and/or hobby in which individuals enjoy the challenge of bird study, listing, or other general activities involving bird life. Critics say that people  photographing birds are not really observing.

But taking photographs of birds is a general activity involving bird life, isn’t it? With the new digital photography technique  it is far easier to get interested in birds via photography than with binoculars as demonstrated above. This is where I am going with this series.  Eventually, the kid will also want a pair of binoculars. Why? Because he likes  birds. And he would like to watch them when the photography conditions are not the best. Birding grows on you.

Maybe the definition of a birder will be change soon: Someone who is actively pursuing the hobby or sport of observing or photographing birds. The old school birders will protest. So be it!  Digital bird photography at all levels is here to stay. Some people will never become experts. But that is OK.

Jeff Gordon, president of the American Birding Association, said on my Facebook wall:

“Birders have often as a group been insular, though to be fair, they’ve often been marginalized. But part of my whole thesis about how I approach my job at the ABA is that we have to let go of the past, suck it up, and let our lights shine. Become less focused on ourselves and our own successes and failures and more concerned about building a bigger, more fun tent.”

Should pursuing birds by photography be included in the word birding? Comments below please. And don’t forget to subscribe to email updates so you don’t miss any posts. Have a wonderful week full of birds.

Top Photo:  Canon SX40 HS (affiliate link): a highly recommended Point and Shoot Camera for $350 dollars. See Stephen Ingraham’s review. Stephen will be blogging about birding with Point and Shoot Cameras later in this series.

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Gunnar  Engblom
Connect with Gunnar on Facebook or Twitter or kolibriexp@gmail.com.

 

by    9

How to start birding. Intro 2.

It used to be so hard

Before you had to buy a field guide, buy binoculars and join organized bird walks with experienced guides to get started. But as soon as you were left on your own you’d be totally lost. You would never be sure of identification if you did not have a mentor to ask. Sure you could take some notes to look up later, but still it was more often not possible to get the ID confirmed.  You looked for the wrong things and you would miss important features. It was simply not enough to state that it was green above and yellow below.

Which one was it?

If you did not have almost constant access to an experienced birder that would take you out birding, you’d have a hard time to get beyond the threshold every beginner experience. Now with communities on the internet and especially Facebook, we can just share a photo. You say: I think this may be a Nashville Warbler. Someone will likely help you.  There is some evidence of what you have seen. There is instant confirmation.

Blog update.

We are gaining momentum for this blog and the future ebook. Please note that these first posts written by Gunnar Engblom are mainly to anticipate the future posts and chapters. In the coming posts I shall show who the collaborators are. I am sure you shall recognize many names. Subscribe by email or RSS not to miss any posts.

Please comment on your frustrations with bird identifications below.

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Gunnar  Engblom
Connect with Gunnar on Facebook or Twitter or kolibriexp@gmail.com

by    27

How to start birding? Intro1.

Old school birding vs birding in the digital age.

Don’t listen to the old school to in for of birding! You don’t need a field guide, you don’t need a mentor to guide you and you don’t even need binoculars to start birding. You just need a point and shoot camera and an internet connection to get started.  Everything else is secondary and comes later. Chances are that you already have a digital camera and access to internet, so you can get started right away.  What are you waiting for? Just do it.
Everything is right there at your fingertips, but it is not yet organized for the 21st century.  Pick up any book, read any blog post, check out any video on Youtube about birdwatching for beginners, and they all repeat the same mantra from yesterdays.

YOU NEED Binoculars, Field guide and notebook. And join a birdwatching club!

We are here to show you, that to get started you don’t need any of all that. That is why we are doing this blog. We want you to understand that it is easy to start birdwatching. This blog leads you into a wonderful and rewarding hobby, which has never been easier to get started with, than today.  The blog presents the new resources on the internet where you can share your photos of birds and learn as you go along. You’ll become a member of the birding community from the start, without membership fees and without physical access to birdwatching clubs or leaders who mentor you.

Birding has never been cooler than it is today. It is certainly not a hobby for nerds, but one for active people who enjoy nature and outdoors and want to share their passion with others. Birding today compares less with trainspotting and stamp collecting, but more like the fine subtleties of wine-tasting and photo-hunting.

This blog will give you a multitude of tips from the best birders in the world. It will teach you to become a birder.  Eventually, we shall also talk about the same mantra, but then you are already a birder and you probably want to step up a pinhole.  You will find joining a bird club, subscribing to a birding magazine or visit a birdwatching festival will be a natural outcome and very awarding.

Follow us from the beginning by subscribing to this blog.

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Gunnar  Engblom
Connect with Gunnar on Facebook or Twitter or kolibriexp@gmail.com