Christmas Birding Presents!

I can hardly believe it's been a month since my last post. Actually I can believe it- December was a ridiculously busy month for me with work and Christmas parties on weekends etc.

This was the year of birding/Hawaii presents. My boyfriend gave me everything I need to get started in amateur birding and I was completely surprised when I started opening my gifts. My parents gave us a really nice two-person tent to use during our trip to Hawaii in March. I started looking into it and learned that there are plenty of state forests and other types of parks to camp on the Big Island so I'm really excited about that.

Now to the important part- my birding presents from my boyfriend :)

Present #1: Canon PowerShot S2 IS

I couldn't believe he got me a camera! I had an HP digital camera that he accidentally broke and he felt guilty about it ever since. That happened in July and I finally got another digital camera in October for our trip to Pennsylvania. It was another HP and I picked one of the cheapest models since funds were low at the time and I just needed a quick fix.

He knew that the zoom was less than impressive and he said he did a lot of research and found that this was a great choice for birding.

I haven't had a chance to use it yet since I still have a lot of reading to do in the manual, but hopefully after New Year's when things slow down I'll get outdoors and put it to use.

Present #2: The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America

I was thrilled to get my first Sibley Guide. This book is amazing! It has multiple pictures of each species, including pictures of the birds in flight and juveniles/adults. It's going to play a very important role in my learning about birds. Already we used it during out trip to Martha's Vineyard last week. We saw what we believed were Common Redpolls in the beach rose bushes by the water, although we could be wrong of course. I just checked some pictures using Google Image Search and I don't remember their heads being so red. As always, suggestions are welcome.

Present #3: National Geographic Birder's Journal

This is going to be great motivation for keeping up with birding. Across from each page of identifications it has a page to record date and location of sightings. It even has an accidentals and extinct species section. It's very cool.

Present #4: Hawaii's Birds from the Hawaii Audubon Society

I can't wait for our trip in March and I'm excited to learn about the birds before we arrive.

Present #5: Columbia Sportswear Binoculars Set
Find it on Google Base

All in all it was a great Christmas and I can't wait to put these presents to use. Starting next week I should be back out in the field and will have pictures from my new camera to share!

Difference Between Grackles and Starlings

I saw a sad sight today during my lunchtime jog—a dead grackle. Or was it a starling? I'll get to that in a minute. I was making my way down to the trail along the Charles River when I saw what I thought was an injured bird in the middle of the road. It was just sitting there and I figured it was just stunned or maybe had an injured wing. The bird probably didn't have much of a chance, but the least I could move it out of the road. As I got closer to the bird I saw it had its mouth open and then I realized the gruesome truth—it was dead and was frozen in that position. I just got shivers thinking about it. The poor thing. Anyway, so it got me to thinking 'What is the difference between grackles and starlings?' I use the two interchangeably and haven't really made an effort to sort it out. Until now. I like to use All About Birds from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as an online resource. The site is comprehensive and easy to use. (I also really like the 'Cool ...

Killdeer Chick in Yellowstone National Park

These were taken at West Thumb Geyser Basis, along the beach. It was really cool to get to watch these little chicks up close and personal. I had never seen Killdeer chicks before- only adults. These pictures are from our trip to Montana/Wyoming in July 2012.

Indigo Bunting at Mt. Auburn Cemetery- Lifer!

I was so excited to see my first Indigo Bunting today. I quickly ran over to Mt. Auburn during lunch to take advantage of peak warbler season before it's over. I'm going to be in San Francisco for work all next week so I fear by the time I get back the birds will have moved on. There were a lot of birders there today and of course lots of activity around the Dell. That's where I saw a flash of blue fly into the undergrowth at the edge of the water. None of the other birders with scopes set up were bothering to look at it. I'm assuming they had already seen it and were focusing on other more exciting birds- such as the pair of screech owls that have been reported at the Dell recently. Here is where I first sighted him at the edge of the water. There was also a female cardinal there splashing around trying to cool off. He then flew up into the bushes on top of the wall behind the Dell, where I got a better picture. I was very pleased with the day! It's addicting tho...

BirdingGirl

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