Category Archives: Youth Birding

Bird Mentoring

Having had a chance to bird with my grandson Dane last weekend, I was reminded once again about how rewarding it is to go out with kids on a bird watching outing.  Regardless of how much or how little you know, there’s always something you can pass on.  Those young eyes are sharp to catch movement but often, patience is required to let them get the bird in the binoculars.

One of the things I’m learning about youth birding is that attention spans are different with kids — in fact the leaders at a birding camp this summer interspersed many games with the kids which were as popular as the birding.  Short outings, especially if the birding is spotty, work well. We learn as they learn.

A young birder releases a banded bird at the North Branch Nature Center.

A young birder releases a banded bird at the North Branch Nature Center. (photo by dickmfield)

A while back, I came upon this little article that I’ve been saving — but I can’t find the source.  If you wrote it, let me know and I’ll give you the credit you deserve.

People who have been birdwatching for many years store an enormous amount of information in their heads – the kind of experiences and emotions you can’t learn from a book or website. To foster an appreciation for nature in new generations, it is essential that information be passed on.

Do you have years of birding experience? For the sake of the birds, become a mentor to an eager new birdwatcher; lead a tour; start a young naturalists club; give a talk. Looking at beautiful bird photos on the computer is one thing, but there is no substitution for a personal introduction to the magic of nature. Pass it along – the birds will thank you for it!

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Birding with Dane

As I noted last month, birding with grandchildren is one of my joys.  I’m appreciating it even more as I read the number of “What sparked your interest in birding?” posts where so often, birders say that they first got interested at age 8, or nine, etc.  In any case, yesterday Dane and I went on a Saturday morning birding expedition which started poorly but ended up great.

We are in Annapolis for a few days and enjoying the diversity of birdlife here.  It’s like seeing old friends that moved away from Vermont a month or two ago. The sparrows and kinglets are here and since most of our lakes are frozen, the loons and ducks are nice to see again.

Dane and I left to visit the Patuxent River Research area.  He had been there with his dad on a great visit this Fall but we wanted to check out the southern section.  So we launched into an early morning stream of traffic on busy Highway 50 (it take a while to get used to the people on the move here after Vermont) and worked our way northwest for 40 minutes.  Fog, mist, and heavy traffic and poor directions on my part brought us to the north tract.  It was closed for hunting.  We drove in looking for someone to ask directions of but nothing doing.  (In retrospect, I found out that I could have worked my way around to the south area, which was open.)

I decided on a fallback plan — nearby Oxbow Lake Refuge — where Tundra Swans had recently been reported.  We wove our way over, navigating through the massive housing development of which the refuge is part (looks like the developer set aside some wetlands as part of the deal).  We found a spot with what appeared to be visitor parking and as soon as we got out of the car, we could hear the geese.  As we poked through the woods and saw the marsh, I could see a few dots of white and getting the scope on them, saw two Tundra Swans hanging out with hundreds of Canada Geese.  These were life birds for both Dane and me.  We saw some hoodies, some Mallards, and decided to head back to another site nearer home.

Greenbury Point is a 231 acre peninsula at the mouth of the Severn River that is one of the best birding spots in the area.  It’s pretty busy on the weekend with runners, dog walkers, and birders.  It was cool to spot a Red-tailed Hawk perched on a tree on the access road — we pulled the car off to the side and got it in the telescope until it got sick of the attention.

This Red-bellied Woodpecker posed and chattered away as it fed on an old tree at Greenbury Point.

We walked a loop that features a lot of low brush and berries bushes and immediately ran into a batch of White-throated Sparrows.  These are great for young birders since they have distinct field marks, are pretty cooperative unlike some of their frenetic cousins, and often are at eye level.  Dane got some great looks at them.

Another cooperative bird was a Red-bellied Woodpecker, who was not only colorful but noisy.  We watched one through the scope for some time and took a few photos.  We ran into several others as we moved on.

There were hundreds of Cedar Waxwings in the high trees.  They were not easy to identify in the mist and lousy light until we got them in the scope.  As we  departed, we saw about a dozen Eastern Bluebirds foraging along the golf course.  They were a vivid ending to a nice outing.

Dane uses eBird so as soon as we got home, he reviewed his notepad and entered the birds that we saw.  He then shared the reports with me.  Another perk of birding with grandchildren.

Superbowl of Birding X

The Joppa Flats Education Center is hosting the Superbowl of Birding X on Saturday, January 26, 2013 – 5am to 5pm (Snow date: Sunday, January 27).  Teams will consist of 4-7 individuals and must remain together for the entire contest. No splitting of teams is allowed. Teams must preregister for the contest. Each species on the official contest checklist has a point value of 1-5 based on the perceived difficulty of finding the species at this time of year. The team that amasses the greatest number of points will be declared The Nikon Joppa Cup winner. Each species may only be counted once. Each team must check in at the designated site by 5:30 p.m. of the contest day.

Team Noddies members check out a Townsend’s Warbler. (photo courtesy North Branch Nature Center.

A team, known as the “Noddies,” from the North Branch Nature Center will again participate.  This is the fifth year that young birders and adults from central Vermont have driven down to the Massachusetts coast for this great event.  Here’s an excerpt from last year’s trip report:

Slowly working their way north, by late afternoon the Noddies had reached Plum Island, considered one of the finest birding locales in New England. Here, on the rolling sand dunes and extensive marshes, the Noddies would complete their quest. From a single spot along the main road, two Snowy Owls could be seen sitting upon the barren, snowless landscape. A flock of hundreds of shorebirds chased the breaking waves along the beach. And as the sky became infused with pink and purple at dusk, a Short-eared Owl could be seen cruising the fields, hunting under the shadows of the setting sun. After twelve hours of birdwatching, the Noddies raced to the finish line with a total of 66 species and 124 points.

The Noddies participated in this exciting event, centered around Plum Island in Massachusetts, the past 4 years cumulatively tallying 85 species! This year, the group may extend their trip to be a full weekend, so it’s never too early to start thinking about it!  To be guaranteed a spot on the team, please register by Dec. 21.

Passing birding knowledge on

People who have been birdwatching for many years store an enormous amount of information in their heads – the kind of experiences and emotions you can’t learn from a book or website. To foster an appreciation for nature in new generations, it is essential that information be passed on.

Do you have years of birding experience? For the sake of the birds, become a mentor to an eager new birdwatcher; lead a tour; start a young naturalists club; give a talk. Looking at beautiful bird photos on the computer is one thing, but there is no substitution for a personal introduction to the magic of nature. Pass it along – the birds will thank you for it!

This article was originally posted on the Birds Calgary blog, and immediately captured my attention. I found it through the Bird Canada blog.  It presents the complete juxtaposition of bird watching today, with the old guard encouraging and passing on their knowledge to a newer generation.

Matthew Sim is a high school student who has only been birding for about five years. His enthusiasm for birds is infectious, and when he collided with Gus Yaki, it was a match made in heaven. As much as Gus loves birds and nature, he loves passing on his knowledge even more.

Famous Birders: Gus Yaki
By Matthew Sim

It has been a while since I last did a famous birders post but today, we have a very special expert birder and naturalist who some, if not most of us know personally; Gus Yaki.

Gus is a lifelong naturalist who has had a profound effect on numerous Calgarians, Albertans and people from across Canada and many other countries. In November 2009, I was just starting to get seriously into birding and enjoying nature when I went on a Nature Calgary field trip to Fish Creek Park led by Gus; he did such a great job leading the trip that he helped to propel me into the world of birding. Gus leads many trips throughout the year whether they be birding, botany or anything else dealing with nature.

Originally from North Battleford Saskatchewan, Gus used to walk 3 miles to school each day and got to learn and enjoy local fauna and flora this way. He started a nature tour service and, in 1983, led a trip around North America, following in the footsteps of Roger Peterson and James Fisher who had gone 30,000 miles around North America 30 years earlier. As Peterson’s and Fisher’s journey was immortalized in the book Wild America, so Gus’ trip was immortalized in the book, Looking for the Wild, written by Lyn Hancock, who was on the trip with Gus. Gus is very active in all conservation, birding and overall nature aspects of Calgary.

Below are some questions I asked Gus about various aspects of his birding and natural life and his responses.

Gus Yaki with injured Ring-billed Gull.      Photo Bob Lefebvre.

When did you become interested in birds and nature?

I had nothing to do for nine months before I was born, so I listed all the bird sounds that I heard: as a result, I had a life-list (heard only) of 14 species when I took my first breath.

Seriously though, I don’t ever remember not being interested in birds and nature. One of my first teachers had a little 3 x 6 inch bird booklet. Walking almost three miles to school, I would see a bird on its nest. At school, during recess, I would thumb through this little publication to find a matching description. On the way home, I would confirm that I had correctly identified it.

Later, the government provided a lending library service to those living in Saskatchewan, so I was able to borrow such books as Birds of Canada by P. A. Taverner, with illustrations by Allan Brooks. Needless to say, I soaked up those illustrations and texts, so that when I saw the real thing, I was able to instantly identify it.

By then, I had realized that birds were only part of nature: they needed the other plant and animal species to provide food, shelter, and reproductive services – as did all other species, so naturally, I expanded my horizon accordingly.

Read the whole article here

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Birding With Mac

Being a grandfather who got into birding late in life, it’s a treat to see at least two of my grandchildren become fledgling birders.  Our oldest, Mac, was up from Massachusetts with his mom for Thanksgiving.  He caught the birding bug during a a birder camp this summer at North Branch Nature Center.  He and Jen have done a few outings at home and this afternoon, Mac and I went out for a short trip.

One of the things I’m learning about youth birding is that attention spans are different with kids — in fact the leaders at camp this summer interspersed many games with the kids which were as popular as the birding.  Short outings, especially if the birding is spotty, work well.

We went up to Berlin Pond.  During the drive, I was looking for birds in the trees while Mac played some game on his iPhone.  I decided to chill out – we’d bird when we got there.

I had been there doing a little scouting this morning but many of the waterfowl had headed out this afternoon.  Even so, it was great.  We could see Hooded Mergansers as we parked the truck and we watched them through binoculars and the scope.  What’s not to like about a Hoodie?  I brought out the camera and fitted it on the scope and took a few shots.

What’s not to like about a Hoodie?

Mac was intrigued — he’d never seen digiscoping before.  I had him get on a group on American Black Ducks and set the camera on for him.  He fired off a few shots and loved it.  His shot is better than mine — what can I say?

American Black Duck digiscoped by grandson Mac Mansfield-Parisi

We trudged down to where I had hoped to see some geese but aside from a Bufflehead, it was rather empty.  He didn’t care, the Hoodies had made the day.  A small flight of Canada Geese came right over us as we walked back to the truck to sort of complete the outing.  Half an hour or so, six species, but a great outing.  Mac lives right near Parker River Wildlife Refuge and I look forward to many future outings with him.

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