Entries Tagged 'Updates' ↓

March is coming to a close and the busy months of birding and bird conservation are upon us. We have several projects and outings planned for the next few months, and of course we’ll be sharing them as often as possible!

1. Bird Banding - we are working on creating a series about bird banding including videos showing how it’s done and showcasing some of the amazing migrant birds that come through our area. There are even plans of creating a new website for Sand Bluff Bird Observatory to help promote this local gem we have in our county.
2. Earth Day - we will most likely be helping out on Earth Day to promote our local bird club. We hope to get some new people interested in birding and of course, bird conservation.
3. Bird Counts - we have a Sandhill Crane count in April, the Spring Bird Count in May, and our 72-hour birding extravaganza, also in May. These counts help to determine how bird populations are doing and are tons of fun besides.
4. D.R.B.S. - We will be continuing with the Deer Run Bird Surveys to get an idea of what birds use this nature preserve, especially as a migration stopover and for nesting.
5. Specialized Bird Conservation Population Study - We are trying to start population studies on 13 species of birds in our area, a project we hope to have our bird club participate in.
6. Writing a Book - We are in the process of writing a birding book. We can’t give out too many details at this time but over the next few months we hope to get ideas from our beloved readers and bird conservation friends.

Sandhill Cranes dancing - by Dakota

Baby “Angel” Doberman as a puppy

Exactly one year ago today we said good-bye to a dear friend - our 12 year-old Doberman Baby. Before she became part of our family, we suspect Baby was in training to be a dog-fighter. The night Jennie (Veery) found her coincided with a series of crackdowns on gang-related dog-fighting rings in our city of Rockford. Baby was hungry and desperate for a home; we felt extremely blessed to have her.

Over the next dozen years Baby lived the life of a spoiled, pampered dog - she was always hard to get mad at because she was so sweet. Everywhere she went Baby touched the lives of those she met. Never having her tail or ears altered, she wasn’t the typical Doberman look, but that long tail was almost always thumping wildly.

Baby, Spot and Birdfreak at the Grand Canyon

Baby was an eager camper and hiker but didn’t mind her comforts. She had a zest for life and never complained. Her greatest feature was her ability to comfort us in any time of trouble. Her greatest fear was to see us unhappy.

Unfortunately, Baby was stricken with cancer. Throughout her life she had several fatty tumors removed, all benign, but in December of 2006 she was diagnosed with bone cancer. We were devastated yet thankful that we were able to hold on to her for three more months. I sat with her when she passed away, something that I promised her a few years prior when we lost our Black Labrador to a mysterious illness.

Baby’s presence is still felt daily, not only in our other dogs, but in the positive feeling she provided us for all those years. Some might think a dog is just a pet, but to us she was much more. She gave us the push to pursue bird conservation as a way to fix the environment and perhaps help eliminate the problems that cause cancer.

Baby will be missed but her legacy lives on each day as we pursue our goal to promote birding and conservation.

In Baby’s honor we have donated to Special Needs Dobermans, a great cause that helps abused, ill, and unwanted Dobermans. Check them out and help them if you can!!

We have the great pleasure of teaching three young children the wonders of nature, especially birds. Thus, we have decided to create a guide to help others understand some of the “tricks” to taking kids birding.

View the entire guide now or you can download the PDF version [444 KB]

Here is an excerpt:

Start With Feeder Birds
Backyards and bird feeders are an excellent way to start a kid birding. They provide all the essentials: birds (of course!), an area to practice using bins, and the opportunity for long term study. Plus, as many great birders will tell you, it is important to get the “common” birds down before seeking anything elusive or rare. Younger kids that haven’t mastered the use of bins will enjoy watching birds visit the feeders with the naked eye.

Once the feeders have been thoroughly scrutinized it is time to go into the woods (or fields, prairies, wetlands, etc.). Try to go to a place where you know there will be birds. Even if the birds are common (or even the same ones as the feeders) this will give kids more practice using bins and also up the excitement of finding new birds.

Important: One of the best things about being out in nature is the sense of discovery. Kids are bombarded with order and structure in school and home and even in video games. There are rules and regulations in the games they play and everything is pre-planned. Birding breaks them free of this. Let the child explore. This includes beyond birds. If they want to flip over a rock, kick over a fallen tree limb, or try and catch a frog let them. Just like when a Brown-headed Cowbird is perched in plain view, don’t overlook it and move on. Let the kid enjoy the sense of discovery.

View the entire guide.

Note: After you read our guide, please let us know what you think; what should be added or changed. Your feedback is greatly appreciated!!

Some input for this guide came from Naturalist D, son of Veery, and Naturalists S & A, daughters of SnowyOwl

Last December 1st we were treated with 12 inches of snow. So what happens this December 1st? Ice storm!!

Here we have some Big Bluestem that buckled under the weight of the ice.

Continue reading →

Some stats from our first year of Birdfreak! (Some numbers are from Google Analytics between March 27th and November 30th)

• Total Vistors = 10,065
• Total Page Views = 23,956
• Number of Posts = 395
• Number of Comments (including pingbacks) = 703
• Number of Spams blocked by our spam blocker = 2,488
• Total Number of Photos put on Flickr = 1,838
• Total Number of Views of these photos = 8,842
• Number of people signed up for the Million Birder Project = 37 [sign up here if you wish!]
• Number of Duck Stamps purchased = 5

We’d have a list of birds seen this year but there were too many and not enough good record keeping. Hopefully this next year we will keep better records.

I have been working on this project for the last couple of weeks and I think it is time to officially “launch” it. The Birdfreak Team - mostly me, Birdfreak, is now offering web design for bird clubs. Our goal is to offer easy to use, clean looking, and fully functional websites for bird clubs - all at an affordable price.

I set up the website for our local birding club, NCIOS, complete with a blog. So far, the feedback from our birding club has been all positive.

Eddie Callaway did all the work of creating the NCIOS website. We talked about some ideas for the site and the next thing we knew he had it up and running. He has the website well organized and has included a wealth of information . The site is straightforward and easy to use, even for beginners. It’s becoming a valuable tool for our club members to trade information and stay in touch with each other. - Barbara and Daniel Williams (former President of the American Birding Association)

If you’d like to learn more about what we offer, please check out our Design Blog or the main site. If you know of a bird club in need of a website or overhaul of an old site, please send them our way.

It was about this time last year that our concept of Birdfreak began. We were tossing around ideas for a Website name and discovered that birdfreak.com was available. However, this actually wasn’t our first choice. Not that we aren’t birdfreaks - the thousands of pictures, hundreds of magazines, and nearly constant effort to find birds proves that.

Red-eyed Vireo - common yet spasmadic and sometimes hard to photograph

Our first concept was “Feathers”, an all-encompassing approach at various aspects of birds and birding. We wanted to start a magazine or weekly newspaper but quickly discovered that we didn’t have the time or money to invest in such an endeavor. Plus, the domain for feathers.com and all its variations, was already in use.

So we searched around a bit more and thought, how about Birdfreak! It was unique, a bit in your face, and 100% true!

After several failed attempts at creating a working concept for a Website, the domain sat for several months until December. After years of reading articles and hearing local birders discuss how much better the “good ‘ole days” were, we got to thinking. The so called good ‘ole days couldn’t possibly be over. We couldn’t just sit back and watch the environment slip away and all the great birds with it.

So, the Birdfreak Birding Blog was born on December 1st, 2006 to focus on promoting bird conservation and birding. We aren’t about being famous, rich, or even becoming the best birders in the world. Our goal is simple yet extremely important - the more birders there are, the more bird conservation there will be, and the more birds can survive to enable more birders.

“The conservation of natural resources is the fundamental problem. Unless we solve that problem it will avail us little to solve all others.” - Theodore Roosevelt

We believe that conservation is the key to saving the planet and know that together, we as birders will continue to lead the conservation effort.