tweety birds

[Harlan Huckleby]

I love getting out into the woods and fields and the occasional marsh to watch birds. I'm pretty good at identifying by sound. This is the first spring in a long time when I've gotten out there a lot.

For years I tried to figure out what birds are in my area by looking at range maps in field guides, which ussually tell you very little. There are some state-wide graphs available, but the populations vary wildly around the state, this is just a slightly more helpful.

I just found a site that is bird statistic utopia:
http://ebird.org/

You create an account there, specify your county, and you get VERY accurate and complete picture of what species are in your exact area, month by month. Its gotten really popular, knowledgable bird hobbiest have built a great database.

BTW, Wisconsin is one of the best places in the country for birds.

[mraynrand]

BTW, Wisconsin is one of the best places in the country for birds.

So you are saying Wisconsin is for the birds.

Have you ever used one of those electronic birdsong guides, with the recorded birdsong alongside pictures and descriptions, habitats, etc. I've sampled those when I've run across them - like at nat. park stores - they seem pretty authentic and some have upwards of 200+ recorded songs. But they are pretty expensive, too.

[Harlan Huckleby]

The electronic devices I've seen come with little bar codes that you can paste into your own field guides. Clever idea, but I'm not so impressed with sound quality or the amount of bird song available. I'm not interested in it, but it might be perfect for a beginner.

The super-yuppie (are there still yuppies or have they aged into retirement by now?) way is to get a program for iPods called Bird Jam:
http://www.birdjam.com/

That program has its own collection of sounds, plus can add an extensive library like the Stokes collection. People love it, and I can see why. I'm jealous because I can't really afford to spend the money on all that now. But in a way, I don't want to carry any more crap around. I don't keep bird lists. I just want to keep it simple, that's sort of the point. I listen to some bird songs on my computer now and then to learn.

[Scott Campbell]

Re:

http://ebird.org/


How long until you start re-writing their forum rules?

[Freak Out]

Re:

http://ebird.org/


How long until you start re-writing their forum rules?

Interesting stuff....I had not heard about the Vulture sighting near Eklutna.

http://ebird.org/content/ak/news/is-it-real

[Tyrone Bigguns]

Re:

http://ebird.org/


How long until you start re-writing their forum rules?

Interesting stuff....I had not heard about the Vulture sighting near Eklutna.

http://ebird.org/content/ak/news/is-it-real

I thought of you watching History Channel...monster hunt.

Watch out for those short faced bears!!

[Harlan Huckleby]

Interesting stuff....I had not heard about the Vulture sighting near Eklutna.

http://ebird.org/content/ak/news/is-it-real

The physical description of that bird was a remarkable match for Ted Thompson, right down to the "ashy grey head"

Man, would I love to spend some time in Alaska! I will someday. I'm reading a novel set in Alaska in 1940's, called "Cloud Atlas", the people there seem to range from eccentric to very eccentric.

[mraynrand]

The physical description of that bird was a remarkable match for Ted Thompson, right down to the "ashy grey head"


http://www.buzzstoc.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/vulture.jpg

[Harlan Huckleby]

excellent pic, but if you were a younger man you would have photoshopped-in a nice ashy-white hair piece.

[mraynrand]

excellent pic, but if you were a younger man you would have photoshopped-in a nice ashy-white hair piece.

It really was too much trouble

http://i453.photobucket.com/albums/qq254/mraynrand/TTvulture.jpg

[Harlan Huckleby]

:D

not too much trouble. a product you can be very proud of.

[mraynrand]

:D

not too much trouble. a product you can be very proud of.

The more I look at it, the more it looks like Donald Trump.