When “The Big Year” movie was released, the audience went all out to watch Steve Martin, Owen Wilson, and Jack Black moving around the countryside with their binoculars. The bird names flooded on. It made many people wonder how can someone learn so much of the bird names says, William D King.
The truth is that it’s all about practice. The act of birding or bird watching usually includes careful observation, patience, and an eagerness to allow the beauty and wonder of the natural world to overpower you.
However, if you are a beginner in birdwatching, you’ll need some hand-holding. Here are a few tips that can help by William D King.
Binoculars
The way you enjoy gazing at birds depends to a great extent on how they appear on your binoculars. Hence, it’s essential to ensure you get crisp and bright images. Today, the best binoculars are available at a reduced price. Therefore, a device under $100 might seem attractive. But it’s best to shell out a bit more and opt-in for a binocular that provides you with high-end images, waterproof housing, lifetime warranties, and is also lightweight. As a beginner, you can opt-in for the Nikon Monarchs. It’s best to get the 7 or 8-power devices that enable you to magnify the image without any hassle.
Field guide
When you start bird gazing, you’ll start thinking about what they are. You can opt-in for the Sibley Guide, either in its complete North America form or a more portable, smaller Western and Eastern edition. William D King says the other meaningful guides comprise of the Kaufman’s, Peterson’s, National Geographic guide. However, you can get ample information on the web and search for the sounds of close to 600 species.
The bird feeders
Now that you have a binocular and a guide, it’s essential to take the next step. It would help if you got the birds to the backyard to have a good gaze at them. Here the bird feeders are handy, and it is available in all kinds. However, the experts suggest that you start with a black oil sunflower feeder and then add a hummingbird feeder in summer and a suet feeder during winter. And from there, you have the choice to diversify to thistle seeds, millet, fruits, and mealworms to attract various species explains William D King.
The spotting scope
By now, you have most things you require to help you become a birder! But that is till the time you start searching for the ducks on the extreme pond side, and the Golden Eagle mounted on the tree limb just at a distance of a quarter-mile or the shorebirds in mudflats. Even though it’s not cheap, the spotting scopes are essential for having the last few clues about the details of a species. It also enables you to revel in the small plumage details, which you can bring to life with a 60x zoom. The spotting scopes similar to binoculars are available at a discounted price. However, it’s always essential to conduct in-depth market research before you are opt-in for one.
Camera
Digital gadgets are all over today! It helps you to take images anytime, anywhere. When you take even a blurry image of a bird, it helps others and you to get its details. Also, birds are artistic beings. And several new photographers are getting connected with the birds by taking breath-taking images. You can check out several albums in Flickr, Facebook, and other online galleries for inspiration. Today, the practice of Digiscoping is becoming popular. It’s where you point the camera through the binocular or the spotting scope. You can even put your mobile to good use. Before you do this, you can read about some expert tips from useful resources.
The skills
When you are outdoors and encircled by birds, it’s smart to practice the four-step approach for recognition. As per William D King first, you need to assess the shape and size of the bird and after that, you observe the primary color pattern. After that, you should notice its behavior and consider its habitat. There are several online tutorials available for you to practice these skills. It will help you to take your birdwatching hobby a notch higher.
The records
Birders are also called listers. These are people who always compile a list of the species that they have covered. However, you necessarily don’t need to become a lister for reaping the advantages of writing down all that you see. You can consider the notes as a type of diary, where you can record the days in your life where you saw specific birds and the sites you have covered. There are several online tools where people keep their records, that effectively track the day and place they have gone for bird watching.
Advanced apps
When you possess a Smartphone, it’s possible to carry a bookshelf inside your pocket. The majority of the field guides today are accessible as apps. The majority of them add in the sounds which you can listen to. If you want to find the birds, you can opt-in for Birdseye from your iPhone. It draws in updated data from any bird project to provide you with maps and directions to the birds residing near you. And for leisure, you can opt-in for the birding apps from your iPhone for sounds, quizzes, photos, and quirky questions. There is a particular bird’s species guide that works on Smartphone devices, providing you with access to free ID data along with sound recording directly from the internet browser of the phone.
Connections
For most people, bird watching is an enjoyable solo adventure. It’s all about a walk in the serene woods where there are bird sightings. However, birding can also get described as a social endeavor, and its best to learn from others. Today, you will come across several online communities where you can come across like-minded people. These communities allow you the option to sign-up with them. That will help you to get emails letting you know what people have been seeing. It also declares the local bird outings and enables you to connect with local birding club members. When you share and exchange your birding knowledge, it adds to your experience.
It takes time to become a seasoned bird watcher! However, when you are starting, the points mentioned above will be helpful for you.