Posts Tagged ‘birdwatching’

Necessities To Help You Enjoy Your Bird Watching Outing

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

Birdwatching is a great hobby. It gets you outdoors, so you get plenty of exercise in the fresh air while enjoying your hobby at the same time. And it gets you closer to nature. In order to have the best time, however, there are a few birding necessities that you should consider.

To be prepared to spend the day outdoors with your bird friends, you’ll need the following minimum supplies:

- You’ll want to have a sunscreen with a minimum of 15 SPF. This will give you at least moderate protection from the sun. If you’ll be outdoors longer, go for an SPF of 30+.

- Water. Spending lots of time hiking while outdoors can very easily lead to water loss which can lead to dehydration. Take a canteen or bottled water. Drink lots of water before you start your hike and take periodic sips along the way.

- Insect repellant. If you want the best possible protection against mosquitoes, bugs, and all sorts of other annoying insects, apply the insect repellant to both your skin and your clothing, according to the label instructions.

- Footwear. Because you will probably be walking and hiking a great deal, you will want to have a pair of the most comfortable boots possible. Also, if there’s the possibility that you will be trekking through marsh or extremely damp conditions, you should probably take along a pair of knee-high rubber boots.

- Rain gear. Weather conditions can change at the drop of a hat so it pays to be prepared for possible rainfalls. A lightweight, waterproof, breathable piece of rainwear could be indispensable.

- Snacks. The treats aren’t for the birds, they’re for you. Find some high energy store bought or home made granola bars, fruits, and nuts and you’ll be good to go.

Hopefully you will survive your first bird outing. If you do and you believe that this is something that you will be doing again, then the manufactures of birding supplies will love you as you will undoubtedly be back in their stores to buy cameras, recorders, and other higher priced items in preparation for your next trip.

Find more articles by Ken Lawless regarding  bird house patterns / plans, wood birdhouses, and blue bird houses at his website.

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What the First Time Bird Watcher Should Know

Friday, February 26th, 2010

There’s just about no more popular outdoors hobby than watching birds. There are so many of us who have watched the birds in our gardens or at the city parks, raise and support their families. But every once in a while we have the urge to escape beyond these limited confines and go out into the wild to watch birds in their native habitats.

If you haven’t been on a bird watching outing before, the following tips will give you a good basic foundation of necessities you will need in order to best enjoy your time in the outdoors.

1) Many times, in the wild, before you see a bird, you’ll hear it. If you want to improve your skills as a bird watcher, a good way to begin is to learn the sounds that the birds you are interested in make. The more time you spend in the field watching birds, the better you will become at learning to recognize the different mating calls and vocalizations made by your favorite birds. To hone up on your skills you can actually purchase CD recordings of the bird calls of literally thousands of birds. Use these to practice identifying different species by their songs and sounds.

2) Next, you’ll have to become an expert at identifying the kinds of shelter and trees that your bird species gravitates towards. This is key to being able to locate their nests and to set up your stakeout. Some prefer to build their nests close to the ground, while others will find the topmost branches of a tree to build their home.

3) What time of the day do your favorite birds like to eat? If you want the best chance of spotting your bird species, you have to know this. The majority of species choose to start looking for food just before sunrise and will continue up to noon. Some, however, are late risers and prefer to start later in the day. These you’ll find just beginning to be active before sunset.

4) Probably, one of the most essential pieces of apparatus that will come in handy for you is a spotting scope with a tripod. A regular telescope won’t do as you’ll become frustrated very quickly with it. You need a scope with the proper level of magnification. As birding as become more and more popular, it’s become easier to find many brands of birding binoculars made specifically for bird watchers.

Begin your outing with these tips and you’ll have built a good foundation for the rest of your birdwatching career.

Ken Lawless writes articles concerning blue bird houses / boxes, wooden bird houses, and bird house plans which you can find on his website.

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