Larry Lade
Moderator
there should be one more option - birding in love
Is this to be interpreted as: "love birding"
or
"birding with the one you love"
or
"?"
-
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Your Birding Style (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Larry Lade
- Start date
Is this to be interpreted as: "love birding"
or
"birding with the one you love"
or
"?"
birdbrainer
but some people call me Helen!!
I love being alone in a quiet part of the countryside. i love finding the birds myself and get a real kick doing it! I enjoy photography and like to take pics of what I've seen which I always share with my husband and long suffering best mate! What I really love to do is sit in the sun in the summer and observe birds in a good spot. However, my husband shares my interest to a lesser degree and I do enjoy our wildlife watching walks. He will often spot things before me! I like to gain experience from other knowledgable birders - but there's nothing like finding something on your own!
I guess I just like to choose!
I guess I just like to choose!
Larry Lade
Moderator
I love being alone in a quiet part of the countryside. i love finding the birds myself and get a real kick doing it! I enjoy photography and like to take pics of what I've seen which I always share with my husband and long suffering best mate! What I really love to do is sit in the sun in the summer and observe birds in a good spot. However, my husband shares my interest to a lesser degree and I do enjoy our wildlife watching walks. He will often spot things before me! I like to gain experience from other knowledgable birders - but there's nothing like finding something on your own!
I guess I just like to choose!
Who appreciates your pics of birds more?
1. Your husband.
or
2. Your long suffering best mate.
Just kidding!
I prefer to bird with a friend because I love the exchange of excitement upon finding something. I get more out the moment if I can share it with someone. However, I do 90% of my birding alone because no one around me has really caught the bug. My husband always replies with "it's just a bird" so he gets left at home! Also, I find myself looking for birds wherever I am, whether it be the drive to work or sitting at a restaurant window.
Although on a recent trip I think my best friend may have gotten her "trigger bird". I sure do hope so!!
Happy birding!
Although on a recent trip I think my best friend may have gotten her "trigger bird". I sure do hope so!!
Happy birding!
Southwatch
Member
I wouldn't even dream of bird/wildlife watching without my wife, what's the point of getting home then trying to explain everything you've seen. |=)| Also with a few keen friends and one we have known more than 40 years.
Jane Turner
Well-known member
I like to bird with a quiet friend!
Mike Montier
Well-known member
Sadly, I am on my own a lot of the time here in Mallorca. Apart from migration time there are few birders. I have a friend from the UK who joins me and it's great to have company. I just like to talk through bird ID with someone else particularly as I am unsure quite a lot of the time!! Also, when there is not much about we can recall old twitches and birding experiences. Great.
chris butterworth
aka The Person Named Above
62.56% of us prefer to bird alone. What a misanthropic load of miserable buggers we are. Well it's either that or we prefer to go birding with the most knowledgable person around :smoke::smoke::smoke:
Chris
Chris
Larry Lade
Moderator
"the most knowledgeable person around", that's great Chris! :t:
YourBirdOasis
Well-known member
I like birding alone most of the time and expected to be in the minority on that one, but alas I am not...this survey is very revealing so far.
idaho john
Well-known member
and...
great poll...
I prefer alone. My favorite birding partner was my dad, who has passed away. And most of my acquaintances...friends, are folks whom would rather shoot than just observe. It's the result of growing up and living in a rural area. So I just go alone and it is nice to be away from chatter and other than an occasional "why would anyone want to do that? question, I am alone and parked in a good spot, it is quite restful and renews my soul.
John
great poll...
I prefer alone. My favorite birding partner was my dad, who has passed away. And most of my acquaintances...friends, are folks whom would rather shoot than just observe. It's the result of growing up and living in a rural area. So I just go alone and it is nice to be away from chatter and other than an occasional "why would anyone want to do that? question, I am alone and parked in a good spot, it is quite restful and renews my soul.
John
mommymagpie
Active member
Even though the majority of my time birding (very informally and casually) has been alone, I've had the most enjoyment birding with my husband or my daughter (who has now started to watch for birds whenever she's outdoors, and today saw a scarlet tanager in our yard which I have never before seen). I would someday like to take a birding trip with a guide...my husband is quite good at identifying waterfowl and the afternoon we spent at Pea Island, NC on one of the birding trails there was one of the most enjoyable I've ever had, so I imagine it would be great to bird with someone who knew about many kinds of birds.
Socar MYLES
Well-known member
I always bird alone, so I voted for that, but it's not that I WANT to bird alone. I'd much prefer to bird with a friend. But I don't know anyone.
Our local group is a bunch of solitary birders. Everybody goes their own way and then posts pictures on FB and we all like them, of course There is one couple that goes everywhere together and one guy takes his young son with him, but the rest seem to go alone.
I often go birding in my local patch where nobody else ever visits (because there are identical or better local patches in their own area, habitat-wise). During the January lots of us went birding repeatedly at the same spot at the confluence (where we saw Velvet Scoters; we jokingly named the place Duckburg for the huge number of ducks) but only once did I meet another birder from my group, who came independently, and then we saw another guy on a boat with a TV crew as they were making a documentary on winter birdwatching (they had some good equipment so we saw a few other duck species hidden among the flocks).
Other than that we had two group birding trips during the last 12 months, one in early October for EBW and one a few weeks ago in April. We went specifically to hotspots with many bird species; each group was very diverse, from retired people to college students to a family to some people who did not know anything about birds but wanted to spend some time in nature with a group. The guides were our birdwatching friends who live close to these sites; they were of course knowledgeable and tried to impress us by finding as many species as possible. Trips were very well organized time-wise (we did not spend the whole eternity in one place but went to several specific places) and the price included renting a minibus and a (stew) lunch in the local restaurant.
Some college students who seem to try to make their own group had rather poor luck with organization of their last two field trips: in one case they forgot to get off the public transport bus and walked through a very uninteresting (and seemingly dangerous) bog area until they reached their original destination, and in other case they met at two different places (complications at using the google map) and had to wait for one group to get to the other place. We had no such stress at our two trips: the minibus waited for us at the spot well known by everyone - right next to the Duckburg place :king:
There is one couple that goes everywhere together and one guy takes his young son with him, but the rest seem to go alone.I often go birding in my local patch where nobody else ever visits (because there are identical or better local patches in their own area, habitat-wise). During the January lots of us went birding repeatedly at the same spot at the confluence (where we saw Velvet Scoters; we jokingly named the place Duckburg
for the huge number of ducks) but only once did I meet another birder from my group, who came independently, and then we saw another guy on a boat with a TV crew as they were making a documentary on winter birdwatching (they had some good equipment so we saw a few other duck species hidden among the flocks).Other than that we had two group birding trips during the last 12 months, one in early October for EBW and one a few weeks ago in April. We went specifically to hotspots with many bird species; each group was very diverse, from retired people to college students to a family to some people who did not know anything about birds but wanted to spend some time in nature with a group. The guides were our birdwatching friends who live close to these sites; they were of course knowledgeable and tried to impress us by finding as many species as possible. Trips were very well organized time-wise (we did not spend the whole eternity in one place but went to several specific places) and the price included renting a minibus and a (stew) lunch in the local restaurant.
Some college students who seem to try to make their own group had rather poor luck with organization of their last two field trips: in one case they forgot to get off the public transport bus and walked through a very uninteresting (and seemingly dangerous) bog area until they reached their original destination, and in other case they met at two different places (complications at using the google map) and had to wait for one group to get to the other place. We had no such stress at our two trips: the minibus waited for us at the spot well known by everyone - right next to the Duckburg place :king:
Bananafishbones
Incoherently Rambling .....
went to a spot in Malaysia for Buffy Fish Owl.... it was my last night so to utilise the evening we hired a guide who got me onto this stunner less than 10mtrs away, I witnessed it with a good birding friend who I enjoyed a few high fives on the way back to the hotel, I would have been happy to stumble across it while out alone and wouldn't have enjoyed the experience half as much if I had been in a large group.
I think I got all 4 votes in there :t:
I think I got all 4 votes in there :t:
Zackiedawg
Well-known member
I have no preference. I bird, regardless of who wants or does not want to attend. Many times, I go birding alone, and may be the only birder around. Other times I go alone, and other birders are there, but they are the loner types that don't want to talk. Still other times, I go alone but meet other birders who have become friends-by-association, and we'll chat or hang together for a while. Sometimes, a friend or relative comes along with me when I go birding - I usually don't significantly modify my routine, though find it sometimes shortens the trip because I subconsciously may take less time obsessing over getting every possible angle of a particular bird because I'm aware my party is losing interest. But overall, I just like birding and bird photography, and will do it whether I'm alone or with a hundred people.
Eddie the 'ed
Well-known member
I bird alone, mainly because I'm quite new to it and don't have any contacts with any local birders and because the missus isn't into it at all.
I'd like to latch on to a more experienced birder in order to increase my knowledge but so far no joy. I'm not good in large groups, particularly when everyone else knows each other so big groups are out of the question.
Birding on my own does have its advantages though. I can go where I want when I want and I'm having to develop my fieldcraft and ID skills by referencing loads of different sources so my knowledge is my own but still, I'd like to be able to bird my local areas a little more effectively with some local inside knowledge that I'm sadly lacking at the moment.
I've joined the West Midlands Bird Club and have access to their reserves and recently got a new set of wheels after a 4 year break, I'm changing jobs soon that will give me more opportunity to bird in the day so hopefully this will change soon.
I'd like to latch on to a more experienced birder in order to increase my knowledge but so far no joy. I'm not good in large groups, particularly when everyone else knows each other so big groups are out of the question.
Birding on my own does have its advantages though. I can go where I want when I want and I'm having to develop my fieldcraft and ID skills by referencing loads of different sources so my knowledge is my own but still, I'd like to be able to bird my local areas a little more effectively with some local inside knowledge that I'm sadly lacking at the moment.
I've joined the West Midlands Bird Club and have access to their reserves and recently got a new set of wheels after a 4 year break, I'm changing jobs soon that will give me more opportunity to bird in the day so hopefully this will change soon.
