There is an elephant in the room.  Admittedly lots of birders talk about it but in secret, but it’s a shame that nobody ever tackles it collectively or takes a strong position stance as it presents a very worthy topic for discussion and learning opportunities.

Increasingly modern birders are including playback and mob calls in their digital toolkits.  “Fundamentally, birding disturbs birds.” – David Sibley has addressed the issue of playback very well here.  The mob call is not mentioned in this article, which is very different and being used more widely locally.

After birding for the better part of two years now and being privileged enough to bird with most of the top birders in the province, I’ve been exposed to all kinds of birding philosophies and techniques.  I will say I trust the judgement and personal choices of experience birders so I’m not taking a poke at any of you, I’d tell you if I were  🙂

From day one I’ve had my own ideas about it though.  At an early age, I learned that picking up the frogs and salamanders and taking them home for pets led to disaster not only from an angry mother, but the animals often died.  As adults, we should know that our strong desire to connect with nature needs to be tempered with respect for the wild kingdom.

Most of us birders are guilty of “disturbing birds”.  We can’t seem to help ourselves trying to get closer for the great shot and justifying seemingly harmless methods to get the edge.  The lines between birder, bird photographer, and naturalist blur repeatedly in the field and among friends.  We push the envelope largely to get that National Geographic worthy shot.

I’ve retreated a bit from birding recently as I fell into the twitching trap and chased some Western vagrant birds around.  I always feel sorry for the birds (yes I heard the Yellow-billed Cuckoo was simply drunk on berries…LOL) when we do this but the temptation is so great to check lifers off the list.

Don’t get me wrong, the good majority of local birders are very concerned about the future of birds and wish to do no harm.  But there is a contingent of newbies who have no idea of the consequence of their actions who could benefit from guidance in field practices.  Where does the line get crossed?  I believe if the bird is stressed or frightened or disrupted from it’s usual behavior then we have gone too far, and we know it and it sucks.  Truly I think this is a discussion worthy topic.

Based on what I have learned and my early life experiences, I personally believe there is a case for limited use of mob calls or playback in the field for documenting species and locations depending on the circumstances and time of year.  But surely having a lot of people blasting sounds indiscriminately at the birds (who already have enough problems from development, window strikes, climate change, cat predation, etc.) is not the best judgement.

It was an extremely exciting migration season here in Nova Scotia and it’s difficult to get any looks at the rarities without chasing them.  I get it.  I do it.  I am just asking that we all (myself included) continue to check our conscience and if you don’t know what I am talking about at all make it a point to speak with a birder who has been observing birds in the field for many years for a balanced point of view.  The less invasive we can be the better it will be for our fine feathered friends that we love so dearly.

Walking quietly has always netted the best birding results for me.  My new canine pal Macy is a fine companion in the field when she’s on leash.  We have sat quietly together and waited for the birds to come to us and I’ve gotten some great photos.  Admittedly sometimes she ruins the photos but she is “in training” and we have many years ahead to improve.

Most of the best wildlife and birding photographers stress that you will get better looks at the critters if you wait until they come to you instead of chasing them.  Interesting as well that some of the best birders only carry binoculars and a notepad.  The world before digital was not that long ago and we should not lose our core birding skills in the frenzy of nabbing the best photos.

As for twitching, I’ve heard a few people say “imagine what we are missing?”.  If you are out chasing other people’s birds, you will miss the opportunity to find your own.  And that first sighting the initial observer had, well it only comes once and they got it.

Everyone will do their own thing and I respect that and enjoy the company of all my friends here in our wonderful birding community.  For me, I will continue to focus on learning about habitat and microhabitat (which is key for finding vagrants).  Next Spring and Fall I’m going to try to cover more territory to find my own birds, probably with my good friend Macy in tow although there are times she needs to sit it out for sure.

There are many native birds I’ve yet to check off my list.  So, that should keep me busy this winter.  Black-backed Woodpecker and Northern Goshawk are just two that have eluded me so far that I’d like to get good looks at, and perhaps a nice photo of course.

So, dialing it back.  I’m also resetting my immediate goals to try to get better photos of repeat species.  I have no decent photos of a Horned Grebe or Green-winged Teal for example.  Both relatively common but beautiful subjects worthy of more attention.

Anyway, this has been on my mind to bring up for a long time but it’s an extremely controversial topic which can heat up conversations quickly.  Perhaps better for pondering.  And if you decided to speak to me about it at the AGM, perhaps see how many glasses of wine I’ve had first?

Seriously, we have an amazing birding community I will step off the soapbox now and look forward to continuing to spend time with all our good folk.

What are your winter birding goals btw?

Happy Birding,

Angela & Macy (bird dog in training)

If you know me you also know that rising early goes against my grain, but when presented with the opportunity to spend time in Mother Nature’s open university for the day I typically rise to the occasion.  In this floating classroom I was surrounded by esteemed colleagues I hold in very high regard, and to steal a term from a birding friend I must say openly that I was extremely chuffed to be included.

Hats off to Ronnie d’Entremont for organizing an amazing adventure for us and being a wonderful host for this West Pubnico Pelagic trip.  Also a warm thank you to our captain for your skill in keeping us safe on the seas.  Your community is filled with beauty and generosity so happy to be a part of this day.

Also thank you to my kind hosts Mark and Sandra Dennis for wonderful hospitality and company on Friday evening, and my excellent traveling companion for the weekend, Diane Leblanc.

When Diane and I showed up at the Dennis residence on Friday, we immediately followed a twitch which didn’t work out but was a grand adventure nonetheless.  We were entertained by some lovely butterflies which is often as worthy a pursuit of winged things, as well as a nice show of shorebirds in living color, so no crying over spilt milk for us.

Later on my target bird for the land portion of my adventure, the Hudsonian Godwit, eluded me but I did get lesson on another lifer bird, Roseate Tern, by Mark which was illustrated wonderfully by a group of Common and Roseate Terns.

Birding for Friday had to wrap up early as we had to rise by 345am to make it in time for the boat on Saturday morn.

Not often am I at a loss for words but I find myself slightly verklempt and at that the remainder of this post will be mostly dedicated to photos.

All the pelagics were new to me save the Northern Gannet and Black-legged Kittiwake and I stacked up 8 lifers on this trip.

My photos are not star quality for sure but I am limited by my bridge camera, but also able to at least get the shot.  Practice makes perfect and I will earn that DSLR I dream of in the not too far off future, I promise.  There will be photos from this trip from other participants that will definitely qualify as star quality.  Thank you to them for continually raising the bar and capturing beautiful things so skillfully.

Our bird of the day was a Manx Shearwater who put on a stellar performance and ended an already great day with perfection.

Definitely one of the best days of my life this far.  And I’m on a mission to top them every day!

Happy birding and serendipity to you,

Angela

I’ve been birding here and there for the past 3 months since I’ve adopted the Border Collie but not blogging too much so here is a long and windy post.  Since this is my second summer birding, I am more keen to learn the songs and sounds of birds.  And most of all habits and habitat.

It is all well and good to “twitch” birds that have already been found by others, but to find them on your own you need to become familiar with the habits and habitat of birds.

This holds true for both native species and vagrants, who are the delight of every birder.  I am at the beginning of this process and expect to spend many years of study before I get a handle on it but the first lesson that stands out in my mind is about the Ovenbird.  These birds are uncommon and local which means they are not common all over, but in the right habitat there are pockets of them.  When I visited my parents this summer in Sydney I realized they are all over the woods surrounding our house.  And somehow in my ongoing education by Google, I found out they build their nests using Blue-bead Lily plants.  I played in the woods pretty much every day as a child and vividly remember the ground being covered by these plants so it all makes perfect sense now.  Knowing this now I will always recognize their habitat.  And so I am hooked.  If I can learn this for all our native species I should always know when to keep my eyes peeled for them.

My goal is to categorize this information in a logical way over time.  Native birds, diet, vegetation, etc. organized in a way that has not yet been done.  If there is currently a Nova Scotia book that does just this, please let me know.  I understand the breeding atlas contains a lot of this information but I don’t have my copy yet.  Keeping notes has always been my way to learn though so this will be a worthwhile project for me either way, and is a large reason for my keeping this blog.

Since my last blog I’ve visited some great spots and my accounts will not be detailed but here are the highlights.  The photos are doc shots, not great photos but “evidence” as my friend Paul says.

Paul and his dog and me and Macy (dogs on-leash) spent a few hours exploring the Belleisle Marsh.  Gem of a place where we were treated to the songs of at least 3 Soras, and even got a little show from one.

Shorebird season is upon us, and although I’ve not been able to get to the banana belt yet (CSI), Eastern Shore shorebirding is very good.  On my own I located 2 Pectoral Sandpipers in Three Fathom Harbour which was very cool as they were a lifer for me.

A little group of us had a lovely day trip to Johnson Mills in NB to watch the “shorebird ballet” and made a stop in Amherst to see the Black Terns that hang out on the Amherst Marsh in summer.  Another lifer for me which was a bonus in an already wonderful day.

Closer to home, Hartlen Point is starting to heat up again.  The Whimbrels have been hanging around for a while now and other shorebirds are collecting up in the evenings before they head off to sleep somewhere.  McNab’s Island perhaps?  As a result the Merlin are perched on the shore waiting for snacking opportunities most evenings.

Last week I spent a few days in Sydney visiting family and also working in pet shops and I had a low tide adventure with my 7 year old niece and Macy at Morien Bar.  This is one of the best shorebird spots in Nova Scotia and the only thing that would have made the experience better would be a scope.  Still we saw lots of Yellowlegs, Dowitchers, and Semipalmated Sandpipers with a few Whimbrel and Black-bellied Plovers mixed in for good measure.  I wish I would be there this week as it’s time for the Hudsonian Godwit to show up anytime now and all the shorebirds in greater numbers.

On the way to Cape Breton I stopped in Pictou on the holiday Monday to see friends at their cottage, and then I hit the Caribou Island area on the way out.  I was very happy to see my first male Bobolink.  There were a group of Bobolinks flitting about the marsh grasses where they will hide out to molt.

While in Cape Breton I saw that 2 immature Yellow-crowned Night-Herons had shown up in Hartlen Point and I was worried they wouldn’t hang around until I could get home.  Luckily they were still there yesterday when I had a chance to walk down to the back cove.

Ahhhhhh, to be everywhere at once in summer!

Next week I will be going to Pubnico and CSI for a visit with birding friends and my first Pelagic cruise…so freakin excited!!!!!

Happy Birding,

Angela