Any birders hereabouts?

[Weka]

It just occurred to me that it might be unusual for someone to be both a pet bird owner AND a birder. As in, when I visit my local Audubon group, many are appalled at the idea of keeping a bird at all, and when I hang out with bird owners, many of them are somewhat oblivious to the birds just outside their windows. (I get it, though. Nobody thinks twice about owning a dog and not knowing much about, say, the difference between a dingo and a dhole. See: http://mentalfloss.com/article/30959/14-your-dogs-wild-relatives )

So yeah, I was just wondering. It'd be fun to compare notes. But I'll warn you, I'm not much of a competitive "lister", but more of a casual "patcher".

--W

[GreenWing]

I live in Oregon and I have a LOT of wild birds around... Cedar Waxwings, Robins, Mourning Doves, Scrub Jays... you name it, it's a bird lover's dream (I've sent in photos to Birds and Blooms magazine, they've yet to contact me about publishing my pics!). Anyway, I do enjoy watching them from my window but I am nervous about them now, since I have a Grey living with me. I have this tremendous fear of bird mites after visiting a certain website which freaked me out and gives me nightmares...

[Pajarita]

I feed the wild birds and like to watch them but I don't participate in counts or anything like that. I did use to raise hatchlings that fell from their nests back when I lived in Pennsylvania and would often bring them to the shelter with me so they would not miss their feeding.

[Weka]

Greenwing -- Yeah, bird mites freak me out a little, too. I have quite the feeder setup in our backyard, and will most likely have to make several adjustments in order to keep the parrot pest/disease transfer risk at bay.

Pajarita -- You really are an avian guardian angel, aren't you?

[GreenWing]

Greenwing -- Yeah, bird mites freak me out a little, too. I have quite the feeder setup in our backyard, and will most likely have to make several adjustments in order to keep the parrot pest/disease transfer risk at bay.

This sounds REALLY eccentric (which I am, heh, in case everyone didn't know already) but a vet at the Audubon society said that there's nothing to really worry about regarding bird mites unless there's direct contact between the pet bird and wild birds. Michael takes his parrots outside all the time and I don't think Kili and Truman have mites! I've just read some scary stuff on the Internet, so I'm phobic about it. I guess preventing a bird from making a nest on your house (or maybe even near the house?) is the main thing?

[cml]

I know next to nothing about wild birds save the names of a few, but I am looking into starting to photograph wild birds. Getting a new (used) lens for my camera which should be here next week, 100-300mm. A bit short for birding from what Ive read, but 400mm lenses are so damn pricey!

[LadySaphine]

I know next to nothing about wild birds save the names of a few, but I am looking into starting to photograph wild birds. Getting a new (used) lens for my camera which should be here next week, 100-300mm. A bit short for birding from what Ive read, but 400mm lenses are so damn pricey!

First off- I agree on 300mm being a bit short, but it is what I have at the moment, too! If you start to really get into birding, I suggest something called digiscoping- you take a spotting scope (pretty much a telescope for birds, much more powerful than binocs) and put your phone/digital camera in the scope's lens. I've seen lots of amazing photos from digiscoping... I know of a person who shoots amazing shots, but I can't find her right now.

On-topic: I am an avid birder, much before I started to be owned by birds. When I first started to think about getting a bird, I wanted a ringneck dove, because they looked 'natural'. My mom grew up in Milan, Italy, where she learned to dislike pigeons and doves, so I ended up getting Peanut. I find it interesting that birders call bird such different names- IRN's to Rose-ringed Parakeets, especially. I find it easier to speak in aviculture terms- so a green-cheeked parakeet isn't confused with what many people think of a parakeet- a budgie. If I say conure, then people think on the terms of South American small parrot with long pointed tail.

The birds I normally get in my backyard a mockingbirds, brown thrashers, song, house, and now in the winter, rarely, Chipping and Field sparrows, lots of cardinals, house/purple finches, carolina chickadees, rarely tufted titmice, sometimes ruby-crowned kinglets, and very rarely doves. Winter has brought out a lot of birds to my feeders. Today when I was digging (for Peanut...) three birds watched me from only a few feet away- my mockingbird, thrasher, and one of my song sparrows. They weren't afraid of me at all. It felt kinda like a little bird funeral.

[Weka]

Yay, another birder!

I use a 18-300mm zoom for most of my photos, but yeah, a fixed 400mm would be ideal. What many people don't realize is, you can get some awesome shots with even a 200mm using a blind and a LOT of patience. Also, more human habituated species such as sparrows and ducks can make for some excellent models, as well.

Here's a couple taken with a 200m:






What sort of binocs do you use? I have a Nikon Monarch (8x42) that's pretty decent...

We live where the eastern prairie meets the Rocky Mountains, so we get quite the variety of birds around our yard, including quite a few raptors. This is something I'm going to have to be very aware of when I take my future parrot outdoors.


--W

[cml]

Awesome! Great fun that there are other people interested in this on the forum . Come spring I am sure that we'll all have lots of cool birdie pics to share (and perhaps during winter as well?)

Great photos Weka. Here's a shot of a Blue Tit I got a couple of weeks ago, with a cheap 70-300 Sigma I bought used. The lens turned out to be faulty though, and I only ever used it for about 20min with very limited success.


Bought another cheap telelens used which is shipping atm, we'll see if that works. If it does, and I find myself enjoying photoing wild birds as much as I do my own, I might invest in better glass .

[LadySaphine]

I saw a young Blue Tit on my Italy trip- they are so much like the chickadees here!
EDIT: Actually, Cml, that's a Great Tit. I was just on Flickr and there was a picture of a Great Tit! http://www.flickr.com/photos/55522731@N07/11372942765/in/explore-2013-12-14 <That one, to be exact.

Here's are some of mine!



This was a Severe Macaw I saw at a parrot expo- may not be a wild bird but loved how it turned out.



My binocs are 20x48, I think. All I know is that they're good!

Edit again: Here is the lady who makes amazing pictures via digiscoping: http://www.flickr.com/photos/focused-on ... 460063929/