Anyone enjoy watching birds?

[lotsofpumpkins]

All of a sudden I'm finding myself staring through my binoculars every chance I get, now that the birds have discovered our feeder. Last year I noticed Cardinals, Blue Jays, and Red-Bellied Woodpeckers. I know there were a few other birds here and there, but I didn't really notice them. This year is different- just in the last week we have identified 17 different species of birds in our yard! I wish my camera could take bird pictures, but it won't zoom far enough without losing all the quality. So, whenever I identify a new species, I go online and grab a picture to stick in a word document where I'm keeping track of all of them.

 

Today at Walmart there were some sparrows in the parking lot, and I noticed that they were a different species than the ones in our yard, but unfortunately I didn't have my binoculars or field guide with me. So, I told dh that next time we go I have to sit in the parking lot for a few minutes and try to identify the sparrows. I think he thinks I'm a little weird...

 

Anyone else enjoy the thrill of seeing a new bird in your yard and actually being able to identify it?

[Happy]

I've enjoyed watching birds all my life. It's particularly fun to have them in the yard. They add so much color, flash, and fun.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Yes, and now dd8 has found that love of birds too.

[Kathleen in VA]

I'm a birdwatcher, too. I never paid that much attention to them growing up, but when dh and I moved out to the country 20 years ago they really grabbed my attention. The first one I saw in my backyard was a pileated woodpecker - they are amazing! All the best with your new hobby.:)

[hornblower]

It's not too late to join Project Feeder Watch :)

[cathmom]

We love it here!

[Jayne J]

I used to think my birdwatching cousin was just a bit weird.

 

Now I am a birdwatching nerd myself, and loving every second of it! I strung raw peanuts on thread and wrapped them around a nearby branch this morning and then sat back to watch the Bluejays. I sat for nearly a half hour watching the "pecking order" peccadillos. It was so fun!:leaving:

[Peela]

I grew up loving birds and my whole family used to identify and watch them. Dh isnt into it, though, but I sitll chatter away and tell him teh names of birds...I often have to look them up because I am in a different part of the country to where I grew up. The kids are not so much into it either, but still, I tell them stuff anyway.

Around here the other thing I watch and identify is wildflowers. Western Australia has THE most amazing wildflower season around September/October and that is one thing i have managed to enthrall my kids with, and even dh comes for wildflower walks with us sometimes. We look for fairy orchids or spider orchids, we touch the trigger orchids and watch them clam up...we learn the names of the pixie mops and dozens of others, and all the banksias. It really is amazing.

[Daisy]

YES. My children and I love to watch the birds. We've learned most of the species in our area. The kids amaze people with their ability to identify a bird while we are sipping cocoa at Starbucks. LOL.

 

We made our own bird guide when we were first starting. I'd identify the bird, print off a picture, and have the kids write down information about it.

 

Lots of fun!

[Hoggirl]

My state (Arkansas) has a program where you can track the birds you have seen and earn different levels of pins for each 25 birds you identify. You might see if yours has a similar program. It gave more purpose to our birdwatching.

[newbie]

We love winter, b/c the hawks and falcons winter here. Everyone comes out to play in our fountain outside of our breakfast nook.

 

We enjoy the scenery everyday.

[swimmermom3]

All of a sudden I'm finding myself staring through my binoculars every chance I get, now that the birds have discovered our feeder. Last year I noticed Cardinals, Blue Jays, and Red-Bellied Woodpeckers. I know there were a few other birds here and there, but I didn't really notice them. This year is different- just in the last week we have identified 17 different species of birds in our yard! I wish my camera could take bird pictures, but it won't zoom far enough without losing all the quality. So, whenever I identify a new species, I go online and grab a picture to stick in a word document where I'm keeping track of all of them.

 

Today at Walmart there were some sparrows in the parking lot, and I noticed that they were a different species than the ones in our yard, but unfortunately I didn't have my binoculars or field guide with me. So, I told dh that next time we go I have to sit in the parking lot for a few minutes and try to identify the sparrows. I think he thinks I'm a little weird...

 

Anyone else enjoy the thrill of seeing a new bird in your yard and actually being able to identify it?

 

I have never been a bird lover-most likely due to trauma in the teen years caused by an overly-aggressive stray chicken, "Drumsticks", who "graced' our horse barn. I have been known to duck when birds fly too close.

 

About 2 years ago during the start of a stressful situation with one of our dc, I began watching the birds that came to hang out on the rail of our small deck. We live on a green belt so there is a lot of variety. This Christmas, my dh bought me a humming bird feeder and a suet feeder.

 

Watching the birds come to the suet feeder has been a truly joyful experience. I sip my coffee, marvel at the beauty of their markings, and feel the stress slip away. DS and I sometimes get a little too distracted from schoolwork. At least until our woodpecker starts drilling on the chimney cap which sounds like a jack hammer going off.:D

[Trixie]

It's not too late to join Project Feeder Watch :)

 

Hey, nifty! Thanks for the link.

[amyable]

Watching the birds come to the suet feeder has been a truly joyful experience. I sip my coffee, marvel at the beauty of their markings, and feel the stress slip away.

 

Minus the coffee, this is me. :D Starting a few years ago, bird watching has become one of the few true little joys I indulge in here, especially when things are stressful.

[Jlq4]

One class I was fortunate to take my Senior year in PS was Ornithology. It was the best class and sparked an interest in bird watching, which I have passed on to our two DS. In fact, the other night my 10yo heard a Great Horned Owl at 11:10 p.m. Of course he wanted to go out to see it, so all 4 of us DH included, got our coats and boots on and trudged out into 10 degree, snowy weather to look at an owl in our neighbor's yard. You are not weird, but if you start doing things like I just mentioned you might be considered a little weird. ;)

 

Joy

[Mary in VA]

To your original question . . . absolutely!! Caught your question over my wife's shoulder and wanted to add a note. Over President's Day weekend each year (Friday thru Monday), Cornell Ornithological Laboratory, the premier institution for bird studies in the U.S., conducts the Great Backyard Bird Count, gathering 100,000 surveys online. Anyone can participate (http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/), and the automated data analysis is phenomenal. Also, it can be a fun homeschooling experience to record bird sightings, and be part of a large, nationwide project.

 

Mister Mary (Dave) in VA

[lllll]

We enjoy watching them, too. Dh has always been interested in them and our kids have been birdwatchers for years. I only began to enjoy it in the last few years, although even I enjoyed seeing the eagles out in ID.

 

I love it in the early spring when all the birds come back and the leaves are still off the trees. I can open my window and hear 'music' from dawn to dusk. :) It echoes through the woods and it's so beautiful that all I can do it sit and listen in amazement.

 

I think the turning point came for me when we gave up on those manufactured birdfeeders and found an old piece of wood and nailed it to a stump about 10 feet from the slider. We heaped it up with various things birds like and waited. Before long we had many, many different kinds of birds, squirrels, raccoons, possums, and other things. There's this gorgeous fox squirrel who comes every day about 11am. He's as fat and fluffy as a chinchilla, only with cool little orange ears and highlights along certain areas of his fur. He moves slower than the gray squirrels, too. He eats for 30-45 minutes and then disappears. I love watching him along with the birds. Who knew watching birds could be so much fun???:tongue_smilie:

[Stacia]

:001_smile: Me!

 

The dc & I love watching the birds at our feeders. We've all learned & become pretty adept at identifying them. We've also participated in the Great Backyard Birdcount (already linked in a previous post) for a few years now.

[Denisemomof4]

LOVE to!!! I can't wait to start again with my girls! I took my dh and my boys to Plum Island once to go bird watching - it was a blast! They're not interested now.

 

I live in the middle of the woods with a wide open yard. I used to LOVE to fill my feeders and I'd watch the birds outside my bay window every morning while drinking coffee or tea. If I was stressed, I'd go watch the birds. And I'll NEVER forget how the birds would be chirping EXTRA loud when their feeders needed to be filled! I'd walk outside, they'd all hush up, I'd grab the feeders, and one time a little chickadee landed on my foot and just stared up at me! It was one of the sweetest things I ever saw!!! I can't put feeders out now because my cats were killing the birds. It made me sick to see the carnage.

 

We're going to be adding on a room and I plan to have a large overhang so I can have my feeders once again. It will be set up in a way so the cats could never reach them. I haven't told dh yet, but I also want to nail little platforms and perches so that I can just sit and watch them. :001_smile:

 

Oh, and I had hummingbirds buzz by my head having a hissy fit because their feeders were empty! But the CUTEST little ruby throated hummingbird used to perch right outside my bay window and watch us in the house! He was here for two seasons! He'd watch us, and his little head would turn to watch us enter a room or walk away. One morning, around 5:00 or 5:30 I felt "eyes" watching me from my bedroom. I was still in bed. I turned to look outside the window, and there the little dear was - watching me sleep!!! :001_wub: It was just the cutest thing ever. Sure to miss it!

[OrganicAnn]

Yes we are a bird watching family. (my father and grandmother were both bird watchers so I guess it is in the family)

 

One thing that helps us is that we have a good bird book and binoculars sitting in a convenient location near the window where we watch birds.

 

We also have a 1/2 acre pond that attracts different birds - geese, ducks, kingfishers, great blue herons etc.

[Audrey]

Oh my yes! We live on a major migratory path. We have the luxury of having a multitude of birds flying through here. I especially look forward to the flocks of waxwings in the winter. In fact, the first group has been by this week. They are such beautiful little marvels of Nature to witness in this longest of seasons.

[In the Rain]

We all love bird watching here. :D It it is a relatively new hobby for us.

 

Four years ago, I thought there was a pet canary flying across the street. Once I learned that it was a goldfinch, and there were dozens of them, I became hooked. :lol:

[Needleroozer]

Several of my fave birthday outings have been bird-watching based. One of my all time fave birthdays was when we had just moved to NJ, and we went to this local park that has a walking trail. In the middle of the park, there is this amazing area with benches, and about 12 feeders. The birds don't care about the people, and you can move around from bench to bench and watch the great birds. The kids were little, about 3 and 6, so the Dude's gift to me was playing with them so I could sit and watch. I remember- this was the first time I saw cardinals. Such a good memory.

 

The kids and I love to go to the Woodland Park Zoo and sit in the tropical bird house for hours at a time- I always take my sketch pad. I love that that birdwatching has rubbed off on them.

 

So no, you are not the only one, and who cares, really if it is weird. Birds are beautiful, and amazing to watch! Enjoy!

[BridgeTea]

Our youngest reads the bird field guides at the breakfast table. She's done this for years. Our whole family enjoys birdwatching, but this kid is definitely hooked! On Christmas morning (in the midst of unwrapping gifts) she jumped up, grabbed the camera from me, and ran to the window to snap some pictures of a pileated woodpecker she'd seen land at the base of a stump in our yard. The rest of us had to put the paper ripping on hold until she got back.

 

We've always had feeders out wherever we've lived. We make trips to bird sanctuaries on roadtrips. We plan our landscaping to attract more birds. We live in the country in a house with lots of open glass (no curtains) just so we don't miss any birds or wildlife! We've had sharp-shinned hawks take down bluejays and mourning doves right in front of us while we are sitting on the porch staring at the feeders. Always kind of shocking and sad, but then somebody will invariably say, "How cool was that?!!"

 

You know what, though? In all our years of birdwatching, we have yet to spot an owl of any kind, except some baby burrowing owls we saw once in Texas that friends called us to come see. We have lots of woods around us, we can hear the owls, but we've never seen one. That kind of surprises me.

[meet me in paris]

On Christmas morning (in the midst of unwrapping gifts) she jumped up, grabbed the camera from me, and ran to the window to snap some pictures of a pileated woodpecker she'd seen land at the base of a stump in our yard. The rest of us had to put the paper ripping on hold until she got back.

 

 

Now *that* is a great Christmas story!!

 

We love bird watching, too. we've done the Great Backyard Bird Count for the last 2 years, and will be participating again this year. It's so much fun! We have a huge telescope that we bought for star gazing, but it sits in our kitchen pointed at the trees so we can look at birds instead. :D

[TravelingChris]

We are all avid bird watchers. Last May we went on vacation to Maine and took a boat ride to see Atlantic Puffins. It really made our girls' vacation. One of the most spectacular sights I have every seen is at Bosque del Apache NWR in central NM. There were more than a 100K geese and sandhill cranes (plus a whooping crane or 2 I didn't see). Then a fox came up and they all rose up in the air. It reminded me of seeing herd migrations in Africa which I have only seen on film.

 

Here at our home in the woods we get all kinds of woodpeckers, juncos, sparrows, chickadees, creepers, wrens, and nuthatchers. I love to see them all.

[RoughCollie]

I enjoy watching birds.

 

I saw my first pileated woodpecker a few months ago. It was a fully-grown adult. Then I saw a younger one (not as big). Yesterday, 2 younger ones showed up (both the same not-as-big size). They mate for life, and I hope they will continue to live around here.

 

I saw a mourning dove for the first time a couple of weeks ago. I recognized it from having seen it on the Cornell site when I was looking up a different bird.

 

My bird cafe is crowded with birds all day long. There are usually about 30 birds present: cardinals, blue jays, chickadees, and a flock of mystery birds that I have not been able to identify.

 

I enjoy watching the crows go after the hawks. The hawks will go to a tree where about 100 crows are in residence, I suppose to get their dinner. The crows will rise up out the tree, en masse, and go after the hawks. They are cawing so loudly during this operation, that I cannot hear anything -- it reminds me of when I used to life in a house that was located beside train tracks. So far, the hawks have had to seek other prey.

 

When I moved here last summer, there were some little brown birds nesting atop one of the porch pillars. I hope they come back next year.

 

The #1 item on my want list is a telephoto lense for my camera. Originally a pair of binoculars which are ideal for birdwatchers who wear glasses occupied that spot. Then I found out they cost $2000.

 

Here's a bird website I enjoy: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/ .

Edited January 12, 2010 by RoughCollie

[Bug's Mom]

We've got feeders just outside our living room window. I love watching the birds that come. I nearly got hit from behind by a hawk once while taking food out there....it zipped past my head and grabbed a smaller bird from the tree right in front of me. Crazy.

 

Our cat likes it, too: http://thebugslife.blogspot.com/2009/12/birds-are-back-in-town.html

[mcconnellboys]

Yeah, I'm a nerd, I guess. We do this year round, but especially in winter. My parents got into doing it a few years ago, too, and I love to watch at their house. They live in a wooded area and have lots more variety than we do here. They've even set up a feeding station for a hug pileated woodpecker that's been coming to them since the snow started this year.

[Ginevra]

I'm the only person I know who freaks out when I see a Pileated Woodpecker in the yard.

[RoughCollie]

I'm the only person I know who freaks out when I see a Pileated Woodpecker in the yard.

 

Freaks out in a happy way, or are you scared of them?

 

I'm afraid of birds when they are flying around inside buildings. I don't know why, but I immediately drop down and cover my head with my arms. It's like a reflex.

[Hedgehogs4]

I grew up in a bird-watching family and have passed it on to my kids. We did Apologia's Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day and enjoyed every page of it. I even came to appreciate bats and bugs (i've never been a fan of either!)