Beginning birding

["jade welch" <>]

Jill,

This whole call thing drives me crazy i mean i try to listen to a call and keep as a mentle note but it doesn't work i can't match what species sounds like the sound i have just heard so i guess that's down to lack of experience which will improve sometime. I love to birdwatch by myself or with a ffriend and am in the process of making a portable hide. I have several locations where i watch birds so it should come in handy. Hopefully soon i will have a website with my photos on it up and running. Thanks for your help and encouragement.

Yours Sincerely

Mr Jade Welch

Gold Coast,

Queensland

 

 

>From: jilldening <>

>To: jade welch <>, <>

>Subject: Re: [BIRDING-AUS] Beginning birding

>Date: Tue, 29 Apr 2003 11:36:22 +1000

>

> jade welch 29/4/03 12:00 AM

> > Over the last two days i have seen a total of ten new species for my life

> > list. Believe it or not i am proud to say this was in a local park in the

> > middle of suburbia ................... One of the species which raised the

>blood pressure

> > and excitement over the two days were a Male Mistletoebird while the other

> > another species which was not expected at all did the same and this was a

> > Buff-banded Rail. ............ As i am

> > only 18 and starting out i have alot of excitement to gain from the new birds

> > i see and i hope for many more years of excitment and learning. At present i

> > am compiling a lis t of species i have seen in the park. So far so good with a

> > total of 49 making it to the list.

>

>Well done, Jade. It's fun to go out birding, and it's great fun to share it

>with people who share the interest. After a while, you start to feel a

>familiarity with the habitats that certain species use, and further along

>the track you get to the stage where you can just look at a patch of bush

>and write a mental list of the birds you might expect to see in that patch.

>It's a game you can play with yourself, as your knowledge grows. Another

>game you can play with yourself is to count the number of birds you can

>identify by call alone as you go for a walk. I do this sometimes, because I

>can't trust myself to take my binos on my morning walk (or I would take to

>stopping), and so I identify the birds from call. Another fun thing is to

>work out which birds are the first to call as daylight approaches, and in

>which order the birds call.

>

>You mention the Mistletoebird. I had a new experience with a pair the other

>day. It was terribly windy, and I was out doing a Caloundra sandbanks (SEQ)

>survey. In the lee of Bribie Island we were assailed by a wall of sandflies

>which were seeking shelter from the wind. We had not seen Mistletoebirds

>there before, and a pair was hawking for sandflies. I always associate the

>Mistletoebird with fruits, and this was the first time I can recall seeing

>them hawking for insects. Then along came a couple of Pied Butcherbirds,

>which tried several times to catch the Mistletoe birds. It was a real

>battleground above our heads, the air thick with sandflies, Mistletoebirds

>and Pied Butcherbirds. To our great relief the Mistletoebirds escaped.

>

>Enjoy your birding,

>

>Cheers,

>

>Jill

>--

>Jill Dening

>Sunshine Coast, Qld

>26º 51' 152º 56'

>Ph (07) 5494 0994

>

>

>

>Birding-Aus is on the Web at

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