Well done Ian. A terrific reply, with
some great advice for beginners.
I would like to back up Ian on a couple of things.
Beginners are more than welcome to join
any COG outing (don’t feel as though two outings a year is all that we
put on for beginners!). Please let the leader know that you are less
experienced or would like some assistance. The leader will either hook you up
with a more experienced member or take a bit of extra time to make sure you see
and hear what everyone else is seeing and hearing. And please don’t be
afraid to ask questions, no matter how silly or simple you feel they might be. Remember,
everyone was a beginner once.
Another point, and one that I always
emphasise with beginners, is to try to learn some calls as you go. Being aware
of calls opens up a whole new world to a new birder. Yes, it takes a lot of
practice, and is like learning a language, but it’s very rewarding. Your
ability to identify what species are in a particular patch will increase immensely.
With some practice, and maybe listening to some recorded calls (thanks Geoffrey) the six thornbills
(well, five thornbills and the weebill) we get around here should be reasonably
easy to identify.
I’m more than happy to help people
identify birds (in photographs or otherwise). It’s great to see that Julian had a go, narrowed it
down, discussed the diagnostic features, but still needed a bit of help, so he
asked. Sometimes it’s a bit hard to help someone identify a bird with a
general description like “it was small and brown”!
Happy birding
Anthony
-----Original
Message-----
From: Ian Fraser
[
Sent: Friday, 18 August 2006 10:00
AM
To:
Subject: Re: [canberrabirds]
Sorry... and Thornbill identification
Hello Julian. I'd actually put this one aside to let
someone more qualified than I answer, but Janette's timely comment made me
realise that perhaps we all do that too often.
By taking the plunge now, I'm not for a moment suggesting that I'm the best one
to do this, but as on other occasions perhaps if I start off with a couple of
basic suggestions, then others can come in with more useful stuff.
Firstly, don't despair! The first months are the hardest, when everything is
new and there are no reference points. But you're already making progress -
you've recognised your bird as a thornbill and a while ago you couldn't have
done that; give yourself credit. For a while, a flock of birds is just that - a
homogeneous mass. But as you persevere with the commoner ones everywhere you
go, you'll find that you can automatically 'screen out' the Silvereyes,
White-plumed HEs, Yellow-rumped Thornbills etc and focus on the less familiar
ones. (Then go back and enjoy the ones you initially screened out!) You'll find
yourself knowing if something is
'different'.
There's no quick fix I'm afraid - in fact there's no substitute at all for lots
of practice. Get familiar with your field guides (and if I may, I'd suggest
both a 'national' guide and the McComas Taylor's "FG to the Birds of the
ACT", published by the ACT Nat Parks Assoc - that filters out for you the
things that are only in Kakadu or Tassie, so you're not spending time wondering
if it's one of them!). Go through them and through them, until you know what to
expect and where to look in the book. In particular, try to get a feel for
different groups - as you're obviously already doing!
Listen too - and if you don't recognise a call, always follow it up. We
remember both call and bird better that way.
Don't try to do it all on your own. COG is full of knowledgeable and generous
birdos who are happy to share their knowledge. Go on all the excursions you can
and announce yourself as a tyro and people will look out for you. We were all
there once!
Thornbills - all the above apply, and I'd challenge any of my colleagues to say
that they don't sometimes have to spend a while on one before they're
(reasonably!) confident of what they're looking at. Get in the habit initially
of a little check list. You've recognised eye colour as important - spot on!; is
it alone/a pair, or a flock?; mostly on ground or in foliage?; streaked
anywhere? on the forehead? scalloped on forehead? eyebrow? and of course
contrasting rump colour? (And I have more than once (or twice!) seen yellow
rumps initially which, in different light didn't look so yellow after all...
Some Buffies are brighter than others! Or their bums are anyway...)
OK, more than enough from me - over to someone else.
On the behaviour etc; I am very reluctant to say this, being very scrupulous
about anything resembling advertising on this list. However this does seem
pertinent in the context. I teach a course called 'Understanding Birds' which
just may be of use. If anyone's interested, please contact me off line.
And just one final suggestion - don't let anything overwhelm your simple
pleasure in the birds themselves.
happy birding
Ian
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Ian Fraser,
Environment Tours; Vertego Environmental Wordsmithing
GPO Box 3268, Canberra, ACT 2601
ph: 61 2 6249 1560 fax: 61 2 6247 3227
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