[Life] Birding club ( ° )>

[LucarioBread]

So, uh... I don't think there are many of you that take part in this hobby as I have yet to find a birder in a place like this in all my years online, but it's worth a shot.
I started birding a bit over 4 years ago and it became a big part of life subsequently. it even affected my career path as I chose to study biology in uni and then focus on birds once I get that done. Right now, I'm an apprentice in the Croatian bird-ringing program.
My species count is currently on 193 + 1 (Porzana sp. which I did not manage to ID, but never encountered any other member of the group before).
As for my favorite bird, it's the Firecrest (Europe's smallest bird). Other birds that are close to being my favorite include Osprey, Little Ringed Plover, Sedge Warbler and Atlantic Puffin.
My favorite birding spot are the overgrown channels on the edge of my town that attract both less picky wetlands species and open grassland species, giving a nice varied mix of birds all throughout the year.

What got you into birding, what are some of your favorite birds, do you have a favorite birding spot?

 

[VisionofMilotic]

This is one of the most origin clubs we have. Thank you for creating it!

Is it okay to join or contribute if you don't birdwatch professionally, but have an interest in birds?

 

[LucarioBread]

Bird enthusiast are welcome of course, but I'd like to keep the focus of the club on wild birds. Birds are everywhere and, chances are, you ran into them and their antics in your garden, local park, an outdoors trip or something. Share your story if you've seen them do something that caught your attention! You can also ask for help regarding bird identification and while I personally may not be able to help for non-Europe birds, someone else might. Backyard bird feeding and general bird questions about their biology are also welcome! And who knows, it might be a push into the hobby for someone.

Also unrelated to the rest of the post, here's a photo of a Firecrest in my hand after it was ringed:

 

[LucarioBread]

I thought I'd do something with this club, maybe catch someone's attention.
Do you have an interesting bird you know something about and would like to share some trivia with others?
We're going to see how it goes, so this week I'm bringing you a bird spotlight of the Little Ringed Plover (Charadrius dubius):

These guys belong to the 2nd largest avian order right behind the passerines, the charadriiforms aka the waders. This is also the order that the gulls, terns and puffins belong to. Plovers can be distinguished from other wader groups by their medium length legs (for wader standards), their not very long pointy bills and relatively short necks.

The starling-sized Little Ringed Plover can be found throughout most of Europe in freshwater habitats that offer open sand or gravel beaches for it to nest on. It doesn't shy away from man made habitats such as gravel pits and sometimes salt evaporation ponds. It is similar in appearance to the Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula), a somewhat larger bird that prefers more grassy habitats like moorlands and tundra in the northern parts of Europe. The most obvious difference is the different mask pattern and the color of the legs, as well as a stronger patterned bill:

Back to the Little Ringed Plover, they feed on tiny insects that live in mud, sand and other types of sediment. As for their nests, they are basically just a bit of rearranged pebbles or sand, almost unnoticeable. Eggs have a specific conical shape so they don't roll away and resemble pebbles, making them extremely difficult to spot. The young hatch with down feathers and don't stay in the nest. Instead they follow their parents around until they are capable of caring for themselves, usually by the end of summer. Then, they migrate to Africa for the winter.

They have a special place in my heart. I was quite new to birding when a group of 2 adult and 2 juvenile birds popped up in the fields along the stream at the edge of the town. Whether they nested somewhere around the stream or were just travelling around as a family, it caught me off guard and I can remember my heart pounding like crazy while looking at them running along the dry fields and riverbanks pecking at the ground every couple of seconds. They completely won me over. The first photo was indeed taken by me, it's one of the adult birds. The other 2 I had to turn to mr.google unfortunately.

 

[Fairy]

Oh those images are lovely! I saw the most gorgeous Robin the other day but didn't have my phone with me. I also once encountered a hummingbird in my garden that turned out to be a hawkmoth and traumatized me lmao. But living in nature has giving me a really unique opportunity to observe wildlife so I'll definitely be contributing pictures soon! xx

 

[LucarioBread]

The bird that people call "Robin" is quite different on the opposite sides of the Atlantic. While we in Europe call this bird (Erithacus rubecula) a Robin:

Americans call this (Turdus migratorius) a Robin:

This is purely because of the red belly; American Robin is actually closely related to the European Blackbird - they in fact fulfill more or less the identical ecological niche, while the European Robin is more related to the Bluebirds of America.

 

[Fairy]

Wow! See, I had no idea that was the case. Thank you for teaching me something new today! :)

 

[LucarioBread]

This week, let's do Sedge Warbler (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus) for the spotlight!

Sedge Warblers are a species of reed warbler, mostly wetlands birds that spend most of the time foraging, as their name suggest, through reed and other types of thick water's edge vegetation. Therefore, they can be quite difficult to see - luckily, they are loud birds and each one has a distinct song. If they're present, they'll most likely tell you with their song.

While most of Europe's reed warblers sport the plain brown-ish plumage with a lighter underside, Sedge Warbler also has recognizable head pattern. While there are a couple of species that also show this characteristic in Europe, they're much rarer in comparison to the widespread Sedge Warbler. For comparison, here's a Marsh Warbler (Acrocephalus palustris), your typical-looking reed warbler:

Sedge Warbler is a bird slightly smaller than a sparrow and feeds on the insects that it either picks on the vegetation itself or the water surface.
In terms of habitat, it prefers reed, but also other types of thick wetlands vegetation. This is another feature where reed warblers vary - Marsh Warbler we mentioned earlier likes some reed, but generally avoids extensive reed beds and is most at home in thick vegetation and corn fields, sometimes with very little water. Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus), on the other hand is found almost exclusively in larger reed beds, while the Great Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) enjoys any type of reed habitat, be it surprisingly small patches of reed between the fields or extensive reed beds.

They make nests low in the reed or thickets next to water. In Europe, reed warblers are among the most common victims of the Cuckoo's nest parasitism, Sedge Warblers included. Like the other reed warblers, Sedge Warblers are migratory birds and spend the winter south of Sahara.

I was introduced to the Sedge Warbler at a VERY young age through Krtek in the episode where a Sedge Warbler agreed to sew Krtek a pair of pants together should he bring the cut up cloth to him.

 

[LucarioBread]

Grab your memes, time to cover the origins of Cramorant (who is NOT a pelican as many people say): the Shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis):

Shag is a species from the cormorant family, closely related to pelican, frigatebird and booby families. It breeds along the seaside cliffs along the European and North African coasts where such habitat can be found. They're not migratory birds in the traditional sense, but do disperse in winter when they can be found along the majority of Europe's coastline regardless of the presence of cliffs. Unlike its larger cousin, the Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) which can be found both on freshwater and marine habitats, the Shag is exclusively a marine bird.

They feed mostly on fish that they catch during some of the deepest dives in the avian world: up to 45m deep!
It is one of the birds directly affected by the ocean's warming: sand eel which is one of the main food for the chicks is becoming scarcer. The UK population has seen a nearly 50% decline over the last 40 years, with a couple of colonies suffering from an almost 90% decline. Thus, the UK population is marked as a red list species by the RSPB.

 

[pkmin3033]

/quietly joins

I've actually been birdwatching since I was seven years old, it's something of a quiet hobby of mine. I don't go out on walks as frequently as I used to - although I did go out last week with my mother and brother and got a close-up view of a (Northern) Wheatear, which is one of my favourite birds! A lone Black-Tailed Godwit was also quite a nice sight; it was pretty close to where we were standing - but the nice thing about living in the countryside with a nature reserve just around the corner is that I can often see something that isn't a "garden" bird just by going for a casual walk or looking out the window on the bus in the morning to work! I'm hoping some of the White-Tailed Sea Eagles that have been released on the Isle of Wight will find their way to our local patch...we've had Ospreys down there in the past, and being in close proximity to Chichester (I work in the city, actually) I'm always seeing Peregrine Falcons...there have also been a couple of Red Kites in my area but I've only seen them twice. It's pretty interesting how many more species I'm seeing now that I'm older - when I was a kid Little Egrets were pretty scarce, and now it's pretty difficult to NOT see one when you look out along pretty much any shoreline.

Also, I believe the Goldcrest is *slightly* smaller than the Firecrest...there are actually some in the trees outside my office, although I've only seen them a few times because I don't generally head up that way - it's hard to watch the trees and the road for the bus at the same time! They're my favourite species though, and it's always nice to see them outside of a reserve...normally we have to go pretty far to see them, and half the time we don't because they're buried in flocks of tits. Or just don't want to come out. xD

I have to say, I'm quite jealous that you get the opportunity to photograph and handle birds...so many times over the years I've wished I had photographic equipment. But it costs an absolute fortune and I wouldn't get enough use out of it to justify the purchase unfortunately.

 

[LucarioBread]

Welcome to the club! :)
Those are some cool birds! I have yet to see a Black-tailed Godwit, not the most common bird down here.
Fingers crossed for the White-Tails! One of my favorite moments of birding was seeing 6 of them in the middle of a frozen fishpond together with a flock of Ravens pecking at what appears to be a Grey Heron carcass.

I can relate to the not-being-able-to-see-goldcrest thing. They're not even that rare in my town outside their breeding season, but good luck if you want to see one or take a photo. This is what I consider my best try so far:

 

[pkmin3033]

Looks good! Definitely better than anything I could take with my phone, haha...they're quite fast birds too, so it's amazing you managed to catch it so clearly!

Another reason I love Goldcrests is because Pallas' and Yellow-Browed Warblers are in amongst flocks of them more often than you'd think, so it's pretty exciting finding one of those! Winter is definitely my favourite time for birding, as it means less foliage (have you ever given yourself neck pain craning to try and catch birds flitting in the trees? I have more times than I care to count chasing them xD) and a better chance of seeing them, and warblers outside the reeds in general. Much as I like Reed, Sedge, and Grasshopper (more rarely, it's been a few years since I saw one of these) warblers, most of the time they're heard and not seen! idk if you experience the same, but when looking at reeds I tend to see more Reed Buntings than anything else...

Apparently we have a pair of ravens that breed relatively locally at an old fort, although I've never seen them myself. That sounds like quite the spectacle, though. The only bird of prey I tend to see more than one of at a time are circling Buzzards, haha. Those are pretty common over the fields outside my house...no Honey Buzzards though, unfortunately. I have looked extensively...always wanted to see one of those. That and a Goshawk. When I was a kid I went to a nature reserve and saw what I (and every other birdwatcher in the hide at the time) believed to be a Goshawk...turned out it was a very, VERY large female Sparrowhawk. None of us were pleased that day. xD

 

[LucarioBread]

Yea, I tend to not see the reed birds very often, only hear them. Apart from the Great Reed Warbler, that is, because they're very bold and often sing from the top of the reeds, not to mention how widespread they are over here.

I think I like early spring the most for birding. Some of the wintering birds are still present and the passing birds start coming through, including stuff like Osprey (which is unfortunately extinct as a breeding species in Croatia) and all sorts of waders. I like to visit the fishponds (the same one where I saw the White-Tails) during this time - they are usually changing the water in the largest pond at that time so you get this one large muddy pool and it attracts a whole bunch of migrating waders like Little Stint, Wood Sandpiper, Stilt and Dunlin.
Croatia has only a couple of breeding waders, some of which are very local. Redshank for example breeds in only 1 river basin in small numbers and that's it (I wasn't able to find the exact information, but between 10 and 20 pairs iirc).
One bird that irritates me are the Green Sandpipers. They're by far the most common wader I come across (they do not breed though) and I can never see them in time to take a photo. They just fly up from the channel from the exact spot I was looking at with the binoculars a second ago. How I don't notice them, I have no idea. All I get is their *peep pip-pip-* as they take flight -.- I do have a couple of photos but they're all... well...

I especially get the pain in the neck during winter while counting roosting Long-Eared Owls in winter xP So far, the record is 29 birds at this random parking lot near the town center.

 

[Bahamut]

Can I join this club? I don't do birdwatching, but I'm interested in birds!

 

[LucarioBread]

Welcome aboard!
Just keep in mind that this club is primarily for wild birds and not pets.

 

[AlolanRattata]

Shouldn't this have ornithology somewhere in the title?

 

[LucarioBread]

While "birding" is a hobby, "ornithology" is a scientific branch within biology. Ornithologist is a legitimate scientist that performs research on birds not only by watching birds, but also by ringing/banding, measuring, habitat surveys, specific monitoring etc. Birder mostly observes birds for fun, but may help in research by providing their own bird reports.
Calling it "Ornithology club" would mean a focus on scientific papers and methods. When I do spotlights I always try to share the info which could be helpful to a birder (even knowing the family helps when looking up the bird in a guide).
I'm not opposed to discussing research and methods here, but I imagine it's not going to be often since it's a niche within a niche.

I hope this answered your question!

 

[AlolanRattata]

So, you seem to want to talk about bird watching, then. Okay, nothing wrong with that.

Do you want to list the different families of birds or what was your plan for this?

 

[LucarioBread]

The goal of the club is to share your experiences and discuss about wild birds - whatever it might be (not just bird-watching) and provide info and help to anyone who might be interested in them. I did a more detailed explanation in one of the previous posts.

 

[AlolanRattata]

I have only seen pictures of the kiwi since it is native to New Zealand and I have never had the opportunity to visit there myself.
Anyone seen one in person?