I started The Daily Bird New England over three years ago with the goal to acquaint beginner bird watchers to the fluxing, familiar and rhythmic changes of bird life in New England.
I set out to create a post
for each day of the year and while I have not yet reached this goal I am moving onto
the next chapter of this project (more to come on that soon). I am leaving the
site in what I hope is an accessible archive of the existing posts organized by
month (see images to the right) and that can be revisited periodically.
For the new comer to bird
watching the diversity and fleeting nature of the prize can be daunting. While
a field trip with an expert is a great learning opportunity it can also prove
disheartening. “How could that tiny brown flash have been a Song sparrow?” The
missing piece here is the fact that the long time bird watcher is often not cognizant
of, or at least not verbalizing the mental process she goes through to identify
the “brown flash.”
An experienced birder will
almost never start the process of identifying a bird with the statement, “The
date today is January 7th. I’m located three miles north of latitude
42 degrees, facing into a cold wind on a barrier beach by the Atlantic Ocean.” These
all-important details are so ingrained in the very experience of bird watching in
early January at Plum Island, Massachusetts that they go unspoken. However, the
time of year, weather, location, and habitat are often more valuable to
identification than the color of the outer wing feathers of the bird in
question. The setting and context in which a bird is seen is a huge factor in
correct identification and this is the context I hoped to express in the Daily Bird New England.
I'll go further in that place and time are more
than a leg up on identification but the very reason for bird watching in the
first place. What makes bird watching so entrancing is the growing awareness of
the layers of life painted onto a specific place. Layers that include the rocks
and soil, the vegetation, the weather, topography, and all the slithering,
hiding, climbing and flying biota that animate that place.
I hope that you will
continue to enjoy checking in with the Daily Bird New England, and stay tuned
for the next chapter. As always feel free to contact me with questions or
comments, or if you’d are looking for a speaker or educational program.
Happy bird watching,
Alex
