birding-aus

Pizzey & Knight Digital Edition review

To: Bill Stent <>
Subject: Pizzey & Knight Digital Edition review
From: Peter Shute <>
Date: Sun, 24 Nov 2013 14:13:23 +1100
It takes up 828MB on both my iPad and my iPhone, so I doubt that's the reason. 
You can enlarge them a little by changing to landscape view, but you have to 
change back to portrait view to access the buttons to take you back to the list.

The Morcombe App on iOS is similar, but will blow up a little larger when 
rotated. There's a zoom button in the Blackberry version, but the zoom level is 
about the same. I have to admit it's never bothered me, but I imagine it would 
if you needed reading glasses.

As a workaround, you could take a screenshot and view that instead, but it's no 
long term solution.

Peter Shute

Sent from my iPad

> On 24 Nov 2013, at 12:17 pm, "Bill Stent" <> wrote:
> 
> I'd noticed that on my iPod. I assume it's to limit the amount of memory 
> required.
> 
> Bill
> 
>> On 24/11/2013, at 12:03 PM, John Leonard <> wrote:
>> 
>> Another observation, it seems odd that you can't resize the plates (ie open
>> pinch to zoom in). This isn't a problem on the ipad, but certainly is a
>> problem on the iphone.
>> 
>> John Leonard
>> 
>> 
>>> On 23 November 2013 14:11, Roger Giller <> wrote:
>>> 
>>> I'm with you Peter,
>>> The operative term is "Field" guide. I'd much rather have a small "gadget'
>>> in my shirt pocket than try to carry a book, even one of the "compact"
>>> editions. That means a backpack or shoulder bag, just something else to
>>> annoy you and get in the way as you try to sneak into a better spot for a
>>> view.
>>> Roger.
>>> 
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Peter Shute 
>>> Sent: Friday, 22 November 2013 5:30 PM
>>> To: Tony Russell
>>> Cc: Birding-Aus
>>> Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Pizzey & Knight Digital Edition review
>>> 
>>> Gadget or book, I don't care. I just want some way to have a field guide
>>> with me all the time. The Morcombe/Stewart guide has freed me from even
>>> having to think about packing one, let alone carrying it.
>>> 
>>> People rave about the calls, but they were just an unexpected bonus. The
>>> big
>>> thing for me was just access to what I'd normally find in a field guide,
>>> even when I'm not birding. Access to another one is something I've been
>>> looking forward to.
>>> 
>>> Peter Shute
>>> 
>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>> 
>>>>> On 22 Nov 2013, at 3:01 pm, "Tony Russell" <>
>>>> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Well said David, you sort of agree with most of my own thoughts. I think
>>>> that mostly the old ways of birding are still the best. Nothing like
>>> getting
>>>> out there and learning from others. Gadgets are mostly unnecessary and
>>> just
>>>> lead to lazy thinking. All one needs are a scope, binoculars , and a
>>> field
>>>> guide (book).
>>>> T.
>>>> 
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: 
>>>>  On Behalf Of David
>>> Adams
>>>> Sent: Friday, 22 November 2013 12:52 PM
>>>> To: Birding-Aus
>>>> Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Pizzey & Knight Digital Edition review
>>>> 
>>>>> I personally don't use any of these electronic gadgets for bird IDs,
>>>>> in
>>>> fact
>>>>> I wouldn't know how to switch one on, let alone cart the thing around
>>>>> with me.  Isn't it better to really get to know your birds?, then
>>>>> these thingamajigs are not needed. Having to carry binoculars is bad
>>>>> enough as
>>>> it is.
>>>> 
>>>> Gadgets aren't for everyone but one more great tool for getting to really
>>>> know your birds. Below are a list of good ways that I've tried, use
>>>> regularly, seen others do or heard about:
>>>> 
>>>> * Put a seed tray near your window and watch what comes in closely. (How
>>> so
>>>> many of us first saw birds as children, I'd assume.)
>>>> 
>>>> * Go out with binoculars and watch birds from a hide, shore, etc.
>>>> 
>>>> * Go out with a guide or group and learn from others. I can't think of
>>>> anything more effective.
>>>> 
>>>> * Take others out and show them what you know.
>>>> 
>>>> * Write about what you know, meaning field notes on behavior and field
>>>> identification. I don't learn much from saying "I saw a Square-tailed
>>> Kite
>>>> today" but I would from writing up how I would try and distinguish a
>>> Little
>>>> Eagle from a Whistling Kite.
>>>> 
>>>> * Sketch or paint what you see! Probably the best technique of all for
>>>> individual study...I'm sadly wretched at it. Even still, just making the
>>>> effort to transcribe visual details visually can be a real help in
>>> improving
>>>> your "seeing".
>>>> 
>>>> * Buy better optics ;-) Man, I wish I'd gotten good binoculars sooner.
>>>> 
>>>> * Use a camera to snap pictures and then go home and study the results.
>>>> I've gotten a lot from this:
>>>> 
>>>> -- It's very helpful for harder groups as you can often narrow down
>>>> something like a pair of peeps to one of 2-4 species. From there you can
>>>> study the guides and figure out what field marks are relevant for the
>>> next
>>>> time.
>>>> 
>>>> -- Huh. I. Could. Have. Sworn. It. Had. Two. *White*. Wing-bars. And. A.
>>>> *Yellow*. Bill. Yeah, a picture can keep you honest. A fish-watching
>>> friend
>>>> said that with the fishes, it is incredibly easy to remember colors in
>>>> reverse - she pops up to the surface and narrates a description to try
>>> and
>>>> get it fixed in her head.
>>>> 
>>>> * Build a database and collect images, sounds and text about the birds. I
>>>> don't think this technique is broadly useful but since I'm a programmer,
>>> I
>>>> end up putting a lot of time into this several times a year.
>>> (Particularly
>>>> before a trip to a new place.) Apart from helping to learn species, it's
>>>> helped me *enormously* learning larger taxonomic and biogeographical
>>>> relationships. Anyone can make themselves a series of folders to collect
>>>> info about a species, if they like that sort of thing.
>>>> 
>>>> * Go out into the field and wait until you can match sounds to birds.
>>> (I'm
>>>> really not great at calls..but I slowly get better.)
>>>> 
>>>> * Sonograms...or so I'm told...I've managed to get a copy of "The Sound
>>>> Approach to Birding" but it's still sitting on the desk.
>>>> 
>>>> * Get and use an app. Why not? When I first saw a good birding app, I
>>>> realized they're the future. They're better than paper:
>>>> 
>>>> -- Integrated sounds.
>>>> 
>>>> -- Plates *and* photographs. I've never loved an all-photo paper guide
>>> but
>>> I
>>>> love my apps with pictures.
>>>> 
>>>> -- Off-line access. (Well, paper has that...)
>>>> 
>>>> -- A structured information space. A lot of phone/tablet apps are, well,
>>>> sort of pointless but not apps that create a nice, tight information
>>> space.
>>>> With a birding app, you can move through data hierarchically, laterally
>>>> (like similar species or groups of related birds), geographically (if the
>>>> app has the data), or non-sequentially (search for a bird.)
>>>> 
>>>> -- Particularly useful when you travel to a new country where you don't
>>> know
>>>> the birds. You can study up before you arrive and have a good idea about
>>>> calls of common birds and what various groups look like, what habitat
>>> they
>>>> prefer, etc. Yeah, apps are great for this...paper guides too.
>>>> 
>>>> There are a few advantages to paper guides that are hard to beat:
>>>> 
>>>> -- No batteries.
>>>> -- Not so expensive.
>>>> -- I find it easier to flip through a paper guide somehow. Particularly
>>> for
>>>> a country where I don't already know the birds. There's something
>>>> hard-to-replace about feeling "wow, 16 plates for raptors!" that just
>>>> doesn't come across electronically.
>>>> 
>>>> I'm hoping to get the new iPad Mini because I suspect that it is the
>>>> ultimate birding gadget. I still buy, use and carry paper guides...but
>>> I'm
>>>> reluctant to travel anywhere that doesn't have an electronic guide. And,
>>> I
>>>> carry fewer paper guides than I used to.
>>>> 
>>>> With all of that said, to each their own. If you find electronic guides
>>>> useful, great. If not, that's fine too. Also, no all electronic guides
>>> are
>>>> created equal any more than paper guides are of identical quality.
>>>> ===============================
>>>> 
>>>> To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
>>>> send the message:
>>>> unsubscribe
>>>> (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
>>>> to: 
>>>> 
>>>> http://birding-aus.org
>>>> ===============================
>>>> 
>>>> ===============================
>>>> 
>>>> To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
>>>> send the message:
>>>> unsubscribe
>>>> (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
>>>> to: 
>>>> 
>>>> http://birding-aus.org
>>>> ===============================
>>> 
>>> 
>>> ===============================
>>> 
>>> To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
>>> send the message:
>>> unsubscribe
>>> (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
>>> to: 
>>> 
>>> http://birding-aus.org
>>> ===============================
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> --
>> John Leonard
>> Canberra
>> Australia
>> www.jleonard.net
>> 
>> I want to be with the 9,999 other things.
>> ===============================
>> 
>> To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
>> send the message:
>> unsubscribe
>> (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
>> to: 
>> 
>> http://birding-aus.org
>> ===============================
> ===============================
> 
> To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
> send the message:
> unsubscribe
> (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
> to: 
> 
> http://birding-aus.org
> ===============================
===============================

To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to: 

http://birding-aus.org
===============================

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the birding-aus mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the archive e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU