When to go birding?

Home
Blogs

Jim Williams has been watching birds and writing about their antics since before "Gilligan's Island" went into reruns. Join him for his unique insights, his everyday adventures and an open conversation about the birds in your back yard and beyond.

Wingnut archive

When to go birding?

Posted by: Jim Williams under Bird identification, Bird sightings, Birds in the backyard Updated: January 10, 2010 - 12:13 PM

1
comments
print

Tweet
share

email
Email share

your name

your email

recipients email

+ add a comment add a comment

The best time to go birding is when you can. Serious birders will tell you birding is best early in the morning, like at dawn. That's the truth, particularly during spring and early summer, when birds begin singing with first light.

But that doesn't mean other parts of the day are bad. You can always find birds. .Right now, check feeders (Theodore Wirth Park in the flower garden section) and open water (Mississippi and Minnesota rivers).

Ted Floyd, who edits "Birding," the magazine of the American Birding Association, posted this story Sunday morning: "For ages, the Boulder Bird Club (Boulder, Colorado) has been offering a midwinter trip to a local power plant with warm water that stays open throughout the winter. I recall an outing five or six years ago. Four or five us us squeezed into the leader's SUV and we had an enjoyable tour of the facility. Fast-forward to the present. Yesterday, Jan. 9, we ran the outing, and we had at least 121 participants That's correct: At least one 121 folks showed up for a local birding trip. The number was perhaps a fair bit higher than that, actually, given a bunch of late arrivals."

So, how did the trip go from six participants to 20 times that number? The club changed the starting time from 8 a.m. to noon. Duh. Participants went birding because the starting time made sense to them. It was when they could go, and when they wanted to go.

Go birding when you want to go. Forget the stories about dawn, in case you've heard them (and I'm guilty of promoting that often ungodly hour). Just get out there and enjoy it. The Minnesota River Valley Audubon Chapter, by the way, begins some of its scheduled walks at midday or later. For a schedule, go to http://home.comcast.net/~mrvac/. There most likely are other walks in the Twin Cities area that begin well after dawn. Google your favorite nature center. (The photo was taken at about midday along a path in the Wood Lake Nature Center in Richfield.)

older post

New species of bird for North America

newer post

Hummingbird program

1
Comments

1
comments
print

Tweet
share

email
Email share

your name

your email

recipients email

+ add a comment add a comment

from the homepage

Post By Category

Movies (2)	Animals (2)
Photos (2)	Holiday shopping (2)
Bird biology (168)	Bird books (38)
Bird conservation (90)	Bird feeding (51)
Bird identification (96)	Bird interactions (35)
Bird migration (85)	Bird personalities (14)
Bird sightings (70)	Bird travels (68)
Birds in the backyard (60)	Minnesota birding sites (37)
Nesting (40)	Photography (2)
Events (1)	Birding equipment (16)