eBird – The Birder’s Swiss Army Knife

When I got back into birding in 2014 after a 20-year hiatus, the first thing that caused some serious head spinning was how technology has impacted the birding world. In my early days of birding a birder would keep track of his sightings by a collection of checklists or by adding notes to his faithful field guide. This image shows some of my early warbler documentation (Mill Grove was John James Audubon's home in Pennsylvania, Hawk Mountain is the famous raptor viewing site, and Hardwood Island is a 200 acre island in Blue Hill Bay, Maine).

A page from "A Field Guide to the Birds: Eastern Land and Water Birds" 

by Roger Tory Peterson, copyright 1947, 40th printing

But now there is an online tool that not only allows you to track your sightings, but it provides tools that allow you to plan your next outing and will notify you of birds missing from your state, county and life lists. eBird from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology is described as a set of "Global tools for birders, critical data for science." It is a free tool (although I would encourage everyone to donate so it will never go away) and once you register you can track your sightings on your computer or from your phone via Bird Log North America.

Having an easily accessible database for tracking your bird sightings is spectacular. But eBird does not stop there. You can sign up for "rare bird alerts" that will notify you of sightings of uncommon birds in a specific area, as well as "needs alerts" that will notify you of birds sighted in a specific area that are missing from you own lists.

eBird Subscription forms for "Rare Bird Alerts" 

and "Needs Alerts"

This is a far cry from my early birding days. I remember being in the Everglades when a Key West Quail Dove was sighted. I believe I stumbled across a note on a cork board which said it was found on a certain trail. I hiked that trail and came upon a small cairn. I scanned the woods at that point and sure enough spotted the bird. Now the alerts provide you the opportunity to see exactly where a bird has been seen - including longitude and latitude! In the case of the recent sightings of Key West Quail Dove on Long Key in Florida, I can find the co-ordinates in eBird, plug them into Google Maps on my iPhone and drive to the location - without having to rely on a small pile of rocks.

Which leads to another great feature of eBird, "Trip Planning" - you can peruse sightings by Region, HotSpot or Species and plan your trip accordingly. I am currently planning a trip to Florida and I have utilized eBird to help maximize the possibility of seeing some of my target species such as Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Snail Kite and Short-tailed Hawk.

These are just a few of the tools provided by eBird. If you have used eBird, I would strongly encourage you to give it a try. If you are currently using eBird, I would strongly suggest you make sure you are taking advantage of all it has to offer.

The Concept of a Favorite Bird

I don't get it. I see posts on Facebook and birding blogs where people are proclaiming their "favorite birds." Bald Eagle, Pileated Woodpecker, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher and Painted Bunting are some of the birds considered as the bird world's rock stars. Don't get me wrong, these are all wonderful birds and I get a thrill every time I see one. But how can you choose just one? And what about birds outside your personal birding areas? Tropical species such as the Marvelous Spatuletail or Golden-backed Mountain-Tanager can certainly rival the previously mentioned birds. I can't pick a favorite bird for a variety of reasons. As I continue to bird I am always  learning something new about a particular species or seeing a new behavior that keeps a bird at the top of my list. But for me it is not just the bird but the experience surrounding the sighting. If I was forced to pick a favorite bird, without hesitation I would shout - "Le Conte's Sparrow." Le Conte's Sparrow??? It's just a little brown bird? Bleh. Well, I would disagree. I think they exhibit a subtle beauty, but more importantly my first sighting of this bird was part of a wonderful birding experience.

Le Conte's Sparrow by Laura Erickson*

I had just connected with the local birding community when I was invited to a morning bird walk to search for Le Conte's Sparrow. This was a bird I seen in field guides over the course of my life, but had never seen and was on my list of mystery birds. The directions were simple, "Meet us below the dam by 7:00 AM. Wear waterproof boots, we will be walking in very wet areas." I arose before sunrise, put on a pair of $19 rubber boots and drove through dense fog to meet people I didn't really know in a place I had never been. There were six of us standing in the middle of the street waiting for it to get light enough to start walking through the marsh. I was pleased to have new friends, but I imagined my morning to be filled with the standard frustration of watching a sparrow get flushed from the ground and immediately fly back into the brush out of sight. When the light was right we headed into the marsh in search of our quarry. After about 20 minutes one was sighted. To my amazement the bird was sitting about 5 feet up in bush out in the open.! And it stayed there long enough for me to get a good look. And I was captivated. It was beautiful. And it just kept getting better. As we walked along more of them popped up, some as close as 15 ft away. It was like they wanted to be seen. Oh, and in the middle of it all, three Sedge Wrens appeared, another lifer for me. I couldn't believe it. I was outside in a beautiful space, with extremely knowledgeable birders and seeing new birds. It was magical. 

*"LESP-Erickson" by Laura Erickson - Own work. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LESP-Erickson.jpg#mediaviewer/File:LESP-Erickson.jpg

Back To Birding

After a 20 year or so hiatus from birding, I have resumed pursuing a passion that started when I was eight years old. On January 1, 2014, I started a "Kansas Big Year" to reconnect with birding and to explore my home state. I netted 224 species in Kansas in 2014 - not a record setting year by any means, but what a year! It wasn't just about the birds. It was about discovering technological advancements like eBird that make bird finding more efficient. It was discovering that Facebook was more than about pictures of cats, but a great tool to learn of "real time" sightings of rarities and vagrants. It was about connecting with the local birding community like the Kansas Ornithological Society, Burroughs Audubon Society and passionate local birders. It was about discovery - learning that Kansas has incredibly diverse habitats, which make for great birding. Not just the gems of Quivira National Wildlife Refuge and Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area but the sand-sage prairie in Morton County and the scenic views of the Red Hills. It was also about the birds. I had the opportunity to see birds that seemed mysterious and unapproachable in my youth - Snowy Owl, American Pipit, Townsend's Solitaire, Green-Tailed Towhee, Mountain Bluebird and Northern Shrike.

So as I continue my journey back to birding, I thought I would document my adventures with a blog. I will document my thoughts on optics, gear, food, resources and the occasional birding adventure. My posts will be irregular, so feel free to sign up for email announcements in  the box on the upper right.

Western Kingbird, Smoky Hills Audubon Sanctuary

Saline County, KS - July 2014