Birds-November Writing Prompt
The Joy of Birdwatching-Dedicated to Dennett and Captain Argentina
Project FeederWatch Has Begun
I am dedicating this article to Dennett and Captain Argentina who both deserve some enjoyment in their lives. I hope this article brings them some joy while also giving them a nice distraction. On a happy note things are looking up for them and we all wish them the best.
When I joined Medium in December 2020, it was overwhelming. I didn’t know if I would fit in. Since I write mostly about birds and gardening (also outdoor adventure and retirement advice), I didn’t find many publications regarding those topics until I discovered Weeds and Wildflowers. I was welcomed to the publication by Dennett and the rest is history.
I have submitted many articles since. She has always been good to me and her responses to my stories and feedback are so consistent. In my experience here on Medium, I have never experienced a writer/editor who so consistently claps and responds to stories.
I also enjoy her bird photos and descriptions mainly because the birds in Florida are much different than here in Central NY. We obviously do share some common species, but there are many species native to Florida that we don’t see up North. I especially enjoy her photos and stories regarding the Black-Bellied Whistling Ducks.
Birdwatching is a Great Hobby
If you follow my articles, you know how much I enjoy this hobby. I have been birdwatching for over 50 years! It all started in the early 1970s growing up in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains in NY State. The mother of one of my friends was an avid birdwatcher and I convinced my Mom and Dad to set up a bird feeder in our yard that I made with lumber scraps from the garage. Since my Dad was a plumber, he helped me with the pole using half-inch galvanized pipe and a pipe flange to attach it to the bottom of the feeder.
To this day I still use this type of pipe for my feeder poles. They are very sturdy and long-lasting. In those days, suet cakes didn’t exist so we hung beef suet from the grocery store in mesh bags for the birds to discover. I did get the idea, however, to render suet and add some sunflower seeds. I didn’t continue with that experiment for long as it was quite a messy project.
I can remember getting flocks of Evening Grosbeaks at my feeder in the 70s. Since I moved to Central NY about 1.75 hours North of my childhood home, I have seen 1 or 2 of these birds in 30 years. These are the type of bird population changes that Project FeederWatch data is used to study.
Give Project FeederWatch a Try
This wonderful citizen science project started on November 1st and continues through the end of April 2023. I recently wrote the following article and would encourage you to read it for details regarding this project:
It is easy to participate in and only costs $18. You only watch birds 2 consecutive days at least 5 days apart, however, you don’t have to count each week and it doesn’t have to be a huge time commitment. Even watching for a short period of time provides valuable data.
In my 2 years of writing here on Medium, I have written many articles regarding birds and posted many photos. Following are a few more articles of the many I written regarding birdwatching.
