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Terry Wood

Jupiter (clearer) Nov 5th 2023 w/Mewlon 180c

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Birding in groups vs. soloing

Started by light trap, 05/12/2002 01:52PM
Posted 05/12/2002 01:52PM Opening Post
I've only been serious about birding for about a year, and for most of that time I've enjoyed simply walking through woods and fields with a friend. As with astronomy, I've been primary happy to view this as a solitary or private activity. However, recently I've started going on scheduled field trips with local birding groups. I cannot overstate the value of going afield with trained naturalists who can easily identify birds by sound alone and can identify enough of the flora to understand intimately just where and when the birds will likely be. The other huge advantage of going on these group field trips is that it's the best way to learn of new places to try later at your leisure.

Yesterday I went on an all day field trip with the local Audubon Society and it was the most sucessful single day of birding and nature observing that I've ever had. In addition to birding and botany experts, there were also 3 dragonfly and insect experts. At first I really didn't completely understand the importance of identifying the various plants and insects along the way. But towards the end of the day it finally dawned on me that the only real way to understand birds is to fully understand their habitat and complete eccosystem. (It sounds so obvious, doesn't it?)

By the end of the day we'd identified 77 different species of birds and 19 species of dragonflies and no telling how many plants and other insects. That's 77 SPECIES, not 77 birds. The actual bird count would've easily been in the mid hundreds. That's about double the number of bird species I'd previously seen in a single day. I was particularly thrilled to briefly see a yellow-billed cuckoo, and many Mississippi Kites. It also helped me to see both male and female Blue Grosbeaks and numerous Indigo Buntings of both sexes and differing maturity levels within the same day so as to better appreciate the differences between those species and the differences between adolescent males and females.

Anyway, the point of this post is just to encourage anybody that's been hesitant about these group outings to take advantage of any that are offered in your area. It's definitely not just a bunch of gray-hairs. Yesterday's group ranged in age from 7 to over 70 and interest levels ranged from casual to rabid. It was a great time and I learned a lot that I can now put to use on my more usual walks.

Mike Swaim