FreeLists / va-bird / [va-bird] Re: First Spring Birding

["Suzanne Richman" <suzanne_richman@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Also, you don't want to forget the advantages of taking a course.  The USDA 
Graduate Studies offers Natural History Field Studies courses, including one 
on Birds of Prey.  I took this course at Rust Sanctuary in VA and found it 
to be very informative and helpful (not that that makes me an expert in the 
area by a long shot).

Suzanne Richman

>From: ecj100@xxxxxxx
>Reply-To: ecj100@xxxxxxx
>To: alcanblaine@xxxxxxxxx
>CC: va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: [va-bird] Re: First Spring Birding
>Date: Tue, 06 Mar 2007 13:19:13 -0500
>
>   Blaine
>
>  Let me second Paul's excellent advice and add a few thoughts.
>
>  1. In addition to time in the field, spend some time with the books. In 
>addition to Wheeler, I recommend Jerry Liguori's Hawks from every Angle. 
>Some time spent reviewing what to look for in advance will really help you 
>zero in on the important items when you are out in the field. Pete Dunne's 
>book Hawk's in Flight can also be helpful.
>
>  2. Spend some time birding in groups. When somebody IDs a hawk, don't be 
>afraid to ask them, for example, what makes that a Cooper's Hawk rather 
>than a Sharpie. Then see if you can make out the points they mention.
>
>  3. Realize that hawks are not easy, but that it will get easier with 
>time. So just get out there and do it.
>
>  Eric Jeffrey
>  Falls Church, VA
>
>  -----Original Message-----
>  From: pmkane@xxxxxxx
>  To: alcanblaine@xxxxxxxxx
>  Cc: va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>  Sent: Tue, 6 Mar 2007 12:25 PM
>  Subject: [va-bird] Re: First Spring Birding
>
>   Blaine,
>Welcome to the Northern Virginia Birding Community.
>While birding isn't always as easy as some veteran birders would have
>others believe, time in the field usually helps with most
>identification problems.
>
>Sure, it can be frustrating getting an identification wrong, but
>calling a bird incorrectly is not some kind of big-deal birding sin.
>I have made a career out of calling birds incorrectly, and so far as
>I can see, the world is still turning; and no one who I bird with
>believes that I am anything other than a veteran birder. When you are
>in the field working identification problems to the best of your
>ability, you will be flying as close to the heart of the "birding
>flame" as any veteran birder I know.
>
>Besides your field guide, look for a copy of Brian Wheeler's Raptors
>of Eastern North America. You can probably pick up a copy of this
>excellent desktop resource at One Good Tern on Fern Street in
>Alexandria, VA. Lots of great photographs, range maps, and species
>accounts in this very readable reference.
>
>When you are in the field, don't be in a hurry to look a raptor up in
>your field guide. Instead, look at the bird for as long as
>circumstance and common sense permits. Don't be afraid to call a bird
>incorrectly. I have learned quite a bit from my own birding mistakes.
>
>When I am looking at at perched raptor, if possible, I look first at
>the bird's head, then its wings, and tail. When I am looking at a
>flying raptor, if possible, I look first at the bird's wings and then
>its tail. This approach usually helps me begin working identification
>problems from a solid footing.
>
>With enough time in the field, your own raptor identification skills
>will improve.
>
>Paul Kane
>Falls Church, VA
>
>
>
>
>
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