My interest in birds has grown significantly over the past year – identifying, feeding, watching, and in general, just learning more about them. The mini-nature center I’ve created outside our breakfast room windows gives us quite a viewing area for all kinds of species, including the non-bird known as chipmunk-who-eats-birdfood.
One way I’ve come to acquire my bird stuff so quickly – the feeders and binoculars and such – is through technology. Sometimes I get in the car and burn carbon and get bird stuff. But I prefer online for ordering. And I get access to copious amounts of bird photos, bird sounds, bird habits and habitats, and more. I even watch streaming video of real life birds in real life time feeding their real life bird babies – it really is fascinating. And I just downloaded a big app of Audubon Birds. All I could ever want to know about birds without leaving the rocking chair on my back deck!
Meanwhile, all five of us also watch our real life bluebird parents feed their real life bluebird babies in the real life bluebird box in our real life backyard. Occasionally I will gently take a picture of the infants with my cell phone, and email it to someone who can’t be there. It’s astounding, seeing them. And watching the male bluebird feed the female bluebird a dried mealworm – it’s tender and beautiful, though I don’t recommend it for human husbands and wives, even with Mother’s Day approaching.
In short, even at my mature age, nature and technology are all blended, mixed, and stirred up into one birdifying experience for me, and for my family. Technology can be a challenge to learn – but so can identifying the difference between a one type of sparrow and the next. Thinking technology is taking us over? I don’t think so. A nuthatch even told me – I should also send more Tweets!
Stephen G Kennedy
May 8, 2013
I have a field guide called iBird Pro on my iPhone. In Highlands, on our hike to the waterfall, I was hearing a warbler singing in the woods. I told the kids to listen for the warbler saying “weeta-weeta-weeteo,” but I couldn’t remember which one it was. When I got back to my tent, I was able to scroll through and find that it was a magnolia warbler, which just passes through the southeast in the spring on its way to northern breeding grounds. The recording on my phone confirmed the ID.
I love that Florida commented on this. I just learned recently what an knowledgeable individual she is about birds when I was at Highlands. As I read your post, Stephen, I kept thinking about how someone on staff is passionate about birds. . . and then I read Florida’s comments!
As for nature vs. technology – both are critical for the heart, soul, and mind. Sometimes, they work in tandem like your photos of the bluebirds. Sometimes we would rather immerse ourselves with one or another.