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- Nov 25, 2011
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Out of curiosity, is there anyone here on AB who birds as well?
That's awesome that you get to see those sea birds! I'm surrounded by a sea of corn and soy so my birds are a little different lol, but I still enjoy going out maybe once a week to see what I can find (actually just documented species #102 a couple weeks ago). I picked up birding late last fall to give me something to do when the bugs aren't out and I'm glad I did.I don't bird-watch, but I certainly enjoy seeing birds out in the wild, always have done. Where I live now we get some crazy sea birds, i've seen birds i'd never ever seen before, including artic terns, puffins and oyster catchers, it's fab.
Pet birds wise, I have 2 birds of prey, an owl and a European buzzard
Congrats on seeing the owls! I've heard a couple species calling, but haven't gotten lucky enough to see one yet. I have seen both hummingbirds and ostriches in the wild though and both were certainly a treat!Do I bird watch? Not really but I do look at every bird that passes me in the sky (and since I've been doing it noticed a lot more than I used to). I've seen two owls flying at night which was fairly surprising as I'd never seen one in the wild before. I've seen more hawks than I can count and I see my own birds everyday. I have 7 pigeons and 5 doves (although technically they're all doves). Birds are incredible, no other animal group that I know of ranges from hummingbird size to ostrich size.
Eric
It's a fun off season hobby that I'm planning on continuing when things warm up and all the migrants return. Best of luck on finding the green kingfisher! I want to visit Texas at some point for a couple weeks of birding and bugging!I've been getting into bird-watching this past year or so, outside of arachnids and some insects it's definitely become a large part of my life. I actually plan on doing some research on Green Kingerfisher (Chloroceryle americana) distribution and ecology in west-central texas, checking out the Devil's and Llano rivers.
I find it rather peculiar that half of my time spent outside I'm either frantically flipping rocks/checking trails for inverts (Especially that darn Phyrnus operculatus), or i'm frozen in place, inspecting a stationary Blue Grosbeak or some Towhees. Texas is truly the best of both worlds, lol.It's a fun off season hobby that I'm planning on continuing when things warm up and all the migrants return. Best of luck on finding the green kingfisher! I want to visit Texas at some point for a couple weeks of birding and bugging!
Sorry for your loss! Birds can make very long term pets and I've heard it's the long-lived ones that can be really great to bond with.View attachment 205346 View attachment 205346 This is charlie I had her for over 15 years. She passed away 3 months ago. Some birds are very long term pets.
I would say that Illinois is the same, but there's not much going on in central Illinois for birds or bugs so I usually have to travel a little bit to get the good stuff lol.I find it rather peculiar that half of my time spent outside I'm either frantically flipping rocks/checking trails for inverts (Especially that darn Phyrnus operculatus), or i'm frozen in place, inspecting a stationary Blue Grosbeak or some Towhees. Texas is truly the best of both worlds, lol.
West Texas certainly has its diversity of raptors! I'm still fairly rusty at IDing most Buteos, though pointing out the more uncommon species like the Zone-tailed and Common Black isn't too difficult.....if you can find them of course, lol.Oh hell yes! Bird nerd here. I'm not as good as I used to be (when I was ten I could identify pretty much every native bird by their calls alone) before I caught the reptile bug, but I absolutely love birds and bird watching.
Hard to beat raptors as far as just... a sheer force of nature. They're incredible.