NFR Bird Watching for Beginners?

[kerrys]

I’m not a birder per say but do some watching. My binoculars are Nikon Aculon A222 10 x 42. About 100 bucks. Decent binos for the money. I would also suggest the Audubon Bird Guide app. I run it on an iPad. You can search by any number of criteria; family, name, area, time of year, etc.

 

[kmudgn]

I have a free app on my phone called BIRDNET I listens to bird calls and makes ID based on analysis of the sound. It works very well (not 100%) and was developed by Cornell Univ. It is a good companion to binoculars

 

[Wadin' Boot]

One way to do it is a little ass backwards. Get a nice camera with a good telephoto lens, put it on sport mode, start taking pictures of birds in flight and looking at them later. That way you can get a feel for how cool they look when you can blow them up and look in more detail. As you get more used to taking the photos, figure out what kind of birds you are getting and work on more variety based on location. At this point I always bring the camera unless I know rain and gray light are all day likely. Agree with Smalma, the snohomish delta is a great place, though Samish flats is easier to walk around and on partly sunny day in winter is hard to beat

 

[Stonedfish]

Based on where you are at, some of the local parks with beach access also offer good bird watching. Not as good as some of the spots already mentioned, but good options if you might only have a few hours to get out on a particular day.
SF

 

[Gyrfalcon22]

Agree with @Wadin' Boot, a camera-even a used small point and shoot for $40 or less that has a 10x optical telephoto in this digital age is a dream come true for learning and enjoying birding.

Just did a quick search.
I still use one of these when I want to go light. Small Olympus SP-500. Great telephoto in good lighting. Amazing macro on them as well.

 

[Go Fish]

I have been a birder for over 20 years. My recommendation is to get The Sibley Guide to Birds.
A great reference book which I have almost worn out. Dave

 

[Jim in Anacortes]

Attracting wild birds and observing them has been a great pleasure for me. Aside from typical feeders, slices of fruit (oranges) pinned to trees is productive. Also pinecones with peanut butter. Also mullet fat. However the most powerful attractant, for me, has been a slow drip of water, landing on a rock underneath. Birds love the sound of fresh water dripping. They see this as the freshest, most pure option for drinking and bathing. Seeds, nuts, fruit and a fountain equal birds.

 

[Scott Salzer]

I thanks Islander for suggesting me, I am humbled.
I started my birding in the early 70’s. We went there nice a week for many years. Of course, it has changed after breaching the dike/ levee. A great place for year round birding.
Cornell is a fantastic resource. Well worth any donation. I like the Sibley bird books. Peterson was what I learned from many years ago. F
Just remember, you can go birding anywhere, local parks, beaches, streams, rivers - even in cities. Discovery Park is a great spot - open fields, forest, beaches.
Seattle Audubon is a great resource - classes, field trips, etc.
I am big on back yard feeders. I have suet and sunflower feeders and spread seeds on the ground - hummer feeders- don’t get the store bought red stuff! One part sugar to four parts water. You don’t even want to know what I spend. Me
We have enjoyed our visitors throughout the year. Love the black-headed grosbeaks n that come up from Central America. We actually had a rose-breasted grosbeak one year! We also get band- tailed pigeons that visit every year. Of course, the feeders attract Cooper’s hawks, which have taken pigeons, flickers and varied thrushes - I guess that is still “feeding” birds.
Sorry to be so wordy, it is a passion of mine, and I never get tired of it.
Let me know if I can do anything to help others in their quest .
Scott

 

[Jim in Anacortes]

To photograph your featherd friends you must try a "camera trap". Simply place your camera on a tripod focused on a branch, strategically placed above the feed platform. A 50mm lens is perfect and any flash will help. A remote shutter release is needed, but even a pneumatic one will suffice. I've been entertained for hours waiting and watching for a bird to land on my pre-determined perch and pose for my camera. Long lenses are cool, but a "camera trap" will produce stunning images ..guaranteed.

 

[Scott Salzer]

Jim, you have some great birding spots up north. Swans, and nothing like thousands of snow geese by the road, like across a ditch.
Eastern Washington sandhill cranes are airways a welcome treat.

 

[Old Man]

Jim, you have some great birding spots up north. Swans, and nothing like thousands of snow geese by the road, like across a ditch.
Eastern Washington sandhill cranes are airways a welcome treat.

I see a Swan every day when I look in a mirror.

 

[Clean Willy]

Jim, you have some great birding spots up north. Swans, and nothing like thousands of snow geese by the road, like across a ditch.

Can confirm. Taken today near La Conner.

 

[Cabezon]

What a great thread of suggestions! A feeder in your backyard can be great. I suggest purchasing one that is squirrel-proof. We bought ours at Wild Bird Unlimited. The squirrels have to make due with the black sunflower seeds that the birds drop. A suet feeder will bring in other birds, especially woodpeckers.
I started with the Peterson field guide and now have the Sibley field guide. I see lots of folks using the Merlin app to identify the birds in their area by sound.
Keep a list of the birds that have visited your house by the window where you have a good view of the feeder.
When you have time for an excursion, you and your daughter can peruse eBird to find hot spots that you want to visit. And the list of birds that have been seen there recently will prime you when you in the early stage of learning the avifauna. This is an activity that you two can pursue your whole lives. Enjoy.
Steve

 

[Scott Salzer]

There is a common backyard bird poster at wild bird that can really help with newbies. I have some I give to others.

Nice suggestions, Steve.

Btw - take a good look at prices for seeds . There is great range on cost. I buy two forty pound bags
of sunflower seeds at a time . Peanuts at Costco for corvids.

I have had a California scrub jay at my office in Burien for the past few years. Now, the rock doves come every morning for new seeds when I drive to the office. I think the local Cooper’s has figured this out too.

 

[Kilchis]

The feeder suggestions are great. Hummingbirds are in the area year-around, so feeding thru the winter will bring birds in. (Our local birds move south for the winter. For the more northern birds, our area IS south.) Lots of birders keep lists; a life list of all species seen, an annual yard list, etc. It adds to the fun. A pen and pocket notebook can be handy. Maybe avoid the big bags of mixed bird seed sold at discount stores, they often have a lot of filler seed that birds will discard. Black oil sunflower is popular with lots of our winter birds. I buy mine in the bulk food section at WinCo. There is a Wild Birds Unlimited store in Everett that would make for a nice father/daughter outing. The magazine Birder's Digest has been resurrected and is both educational and enjoyable. A subscription might be a nice stocking stuffer. If your daughter wears glasses and you are thinking binoculars, be sure the bins' eye relief is sufficient for spectacles.

I'm running on again. Sorry.

 

[Kilchis]

I can't say enough nice things about this style of hummingbird feeder. It's easy to clean, you don't get sugar water all over yourself when filling or cleaning it. In this photo there is a separate heater attached that keeps the nectar from freezing. The heat source is a non-LED nite light bulb.

 

[Wetswinger]

I get more hummingbirds in the Winter to my feeder than other seasons. They come to rely on it so keep it going. Suet feeder work great year round. Bush Tits, Chickadee, Wrens, Nuthatch, Siskin. I use seed blocks instead of loose seed as it makes less of a mess on the ground helping to keep the rats at bay. What little falls down is scavenged by the Sparrows and Junco. Thistle feeders work great for Finch and Siskens. I don’t use them in the Winter as they just mold so bad. You can get inexpensive bulk seed at Winco..

My wife and I go on the free monthly guided bird walks with both the Oly and Tacoma Audubon clubs. Check to see if your local town has a club. Really nice bunch of people..

 

[Smalma]

In addition to feeders bird use in our yards can be enhanced with "wildlife plantings and nesting boxes. We have a decent sized city lot (75 by 190 feet) that supports a reasonable amount of bird use. The center piece is the wildlife island that includes a wildlife stump (a 30 inch 10-foot-tall stump). The tree stump provides perching areas, feeding areas as well nesting areas (both nest boxes and bird created cavities) with the surround vegetation (about a 20-foot circle) providing additional wildlife benefit. Both flickers and nuthatches have created cavities and nested in the stump.

A nesting box placed in the pear tree has been used for 15 consecutive years by chickadees. It is surprising how much bird use that little backyard gets. This past summer there were 8 different bird broods produced there; the nest box on the stump produced 3 broods. While most of that bird use has been typical urban backyard species there often are nice surprises; the flickers, nuthatches and twice I have found hummingbird nests.

The yard also has a small lily pond that has a ramp that for much of the year is used for baths much of the year

The large vegetable garden (2,000 sq ft) always has nice planting of sunflowers providing seeds in the late summer and fall.

Some of the more interesting birds seen in the yard include pigeon hawks, cooper hawks, band tail pigeon, black chin hummingbirds, evening grossbeaks, and just last week a pair of mountain bluebirds (the second year I have seen them perched on the top of the stump.

Curt

 

[ABITNF]

I've worn out my first Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Western North America. I like it as it directs you to identifying what you're looking at by pointing out key unique features.

What I'm going to suggest might seem a bit radical and it's not what I recommend at all for any other book. What I do is take a highlighter and mark in the photo section each bird local to my area. This makes it easier to identify birds I'm most likely to see. This was recommended to me years ago by a friend and it's helped me greatly.

I think it's really exciting that you're daughter is so enthusiastic about birds. Great job Dad!

 

[Shad]

Birds are everywhere around here, and we have a lot of migratory species that come through. I'm not a true enthusiast, but I enjoy watching them out my window. The Sound and the ocean beaches (especially Damon Point) provide opportunities to see a tremendous variety. Up by Neah Bay, you can see puffins flying around (I found that especially cool).

As you have wisely noted, birds love rivers and lakes, so yes, there is decent potential to find an alternative activity that keeps your young one interested when the fishing is slow or otherwise disinteresting. I can relate to the struggle. I have three daughters. I never managed to get any of them really interested in fishing, but I did get them to appreciate the amazing outdoors we have around here, enough that I can still convince them to go outside with me once in a while, which is good enough for me.