iPods and birding software for technophobe (1 Viewer)

[DaveD]

It's been more than three months now, Dave. Is this still in the works or has it been quietly dropped?

I'm told "It's coming in the next few weeks." (I'm not on the project myself.)

Dave Dunford

 

[billy]

will any of these guides work with an archos 5 ?

 

[MacGee]

will any of these guides work with an archos 5 ?

As I understand it, the Archos is a Linux device. I don't know if there's a Linux Bird Guide (I doubt it), but any Video Guide should work on the Archos. Why not email Birdguides and ask them which of their products you could use?

Michael

 

[billy]

thanks, have just bitten the bullet and ordered an ipod

 

[MacGee]

thanks, have just bitten the bullet and ordered an ipod

Well, I think that's wise. As well as the Birdguides efforts, you'll eventually have the option to buy the Collins Guide app. It's been coming very soon now for quite a while.

Michael

 

[Parker]

thanks, have just bitten the bullet and ordered an ipod

Hi Billy,

You won't regret it, bloody amazing little things, I use mine all the time & as well as the apps if you get one with a decent amount of memory you'll be able to fit your entire CD collection on it.

Neil.

 

[Simmo1111]

Hi all ..

Just found this interesting thread ...

I have just downloaded the 'Birds Of Northern Europe' app for the ipod/phone and now I want to buy the 'ipod bit' ..

I just want to use the ipod for running birding apps as opposed to having one of these 'all singing and dancing' things ..

Can anyone give me any pointers as regards which model ipod I need and another question is whether or not the speaker is loud enough to enable me to play the bird calls/songs in the field as an 'attractor' if I go out searching for the more elusive species ?

Thanks very much.

 

[Duke Leto]

as its an APP you can run that superb software on the Iphone or Ipod touch, if you have another ipod I would recommend just getting a bird CD and loading it as a standard MP3 file.
As for an attractor, I couldn't possibly comment.

 

[Simmo1111]

Just as a follow up to my last post ...

I am relatively new to birding and since my last post have been doing a little 'digging around' with regard to attracting birds using recordings ..

There seem to be mixed opinions on this subject and I can now see why ..

I would prefer to learn to be a 'good birder' as opposed to one who is just interested in ticks regardless of the way they are acquired .. If attracting birds by using recordings is frowned upon, I am more than happy to leave that particular avenue unexplored ..

Any advice regarding this would be very welcome ..

Thanks very much.

 

[Parker]

Just as a follow up to my last post ...

I am relatively new to birding and since my last post have been doing a little 'digging around' with regard to attracting birds using recordings ..

There seem to be mixed opinions on this subject and I can now see why ..

I would prefer to learn to be a 'good birder' as opposed to one who is just interested in ticks regardless of the way they are acquired .. If attracting birds by using recordings is frowned upon, I am more than happy to leave that particular avenue unexplored ..

Any advice regarding this would be very welcome ..

Thanks very much.

Personaly I wouldn't use recordings of birds to attract them but others may have a different view. Certainly doing this in the breeding season is out of order, even just briefly, as one persons "briefly" could be another ones several minutes or longer. Far better to use the iPod for learning the songs/calls & using field craft & your ears to locate your intended quarry.

Cheers Neil.

 

[Grousemore]

Personaly I wouldn't use recordings of birds to attract them but others may have a different view. Certainly doing this in the breeding season is out of order, even just briefly, as one persons "briefly" could be another ones several minutes or longer. Far better to use the iPod for learning the songs/calls & using field craft & your ears to locate your intended quarry.

Cheers Neil.

Good advice and a sound post.
Playbacks in Florida are becoming an increasing problem, unfortunately.

 

[guernsey_dave]

Just as a follow up to my last post ...

I am relatively new to birding and since my last post have been doing a little 'digging around' with regard to attracting birds using recordings ..

There seem to be mixed opinions on this subject and I can now see why ..

I would prefer to learn to be a 'good birder' as opposed to one who is just interested in ticks regardless of the way they are acquired .. If attracting birds by using recordings is frowned upon, I am more than happy to leave that particular avenue unexplored ..

Any advice regarding this would be very welcome ..

Thanks very much.

Hi Simmo

The use of playback is actually illegal during the breeding season without a home office licence (sometimes obtained for bird ringing during specific studies). Outside of the breeding season it is generally frowned upon as it can distract birds from feeding up or making them more vulnerable to predators. Tho it is used a lot in tropical birding.

Dave

 

[Parker]

Hi Simmo

The use of playback is actually illegal during the breeding season without a home office licence (sometimes obtained for bird ringing during specific studies). Outside of the breeding season it is generally frowned upon as it can distract birds from feeding up or making them more vulnerable to predators. Tho it is used a lot in tropical birding.

Dave

Hi Dave,

Is this for all species? I thought it was just for schedule 1 species.

 

[Chris Oates]

I bought an HP pocket PC with RSPB & Collins eguide on it - had all sorts of trouble syncing it - put Geoff Samples sounds on it but not being a music player they were difficult to use - eventually I stopped taking it with me.
Bought Ipod Touch & Birds of Northern Europe, Twitcher - put Geoff's songs on and PDF reader for timetables.
Brilliant - it's just so easy to use - the interface really is excellent - perfect.

 

[dogfish]

Can anyone point me towards a list of species on Birdguides' Northern Europe app? Couldn't find one on the Birdguides website.

(Or a rough idea of which rarities are included and which not)

Many thanks

Sean

 

[DaveD]

Can anyone point me towards a list of species on Birdguides' Northern Europe app? Couldn't find one on the Birdguides website.

http://www.birdguides.com/species/default.asp?list=36

 

[dogfish]

Thanks Dave.

Sean

 

[coltell]

Hi, Dave,
Any news on the upgrade? It's been a really long time since you mentioned it'd be an inapp upgrade path.
Thanks,

Coltell

 

[MacGee]

Birds of Northern Europe upgrade now out

I've upgraded for £2.39, which is a lot less than I was expecting. You first have to update your Birds of Britain app, then do the in-app upgrade. Tap the cog icon at top right then the Updates button. Then you get a box telling you about the upgrade and, if you're anything like me, you're baffled and stymied. But all you have to do is tap the box and up pops a button that lets you do the upgrade. Why they couldn't have just put the upgrade button in the box I don't know.

Michael

 

[DaveD]

As mentioned above the in-app upgrade to the Birds of Northern Europe is now available, at a price of £2.39, but you need to update your Birds of Britain and Ireland app first (free; just sync with iTunes and the update should install automatically - there are a few minor bugfixes too, so it's worth doing even if you don't need the chargeable upgrade).

Sorry it took a while, but we have limited technical resource for iPhone development and there were various other projects that took priority (among them our Moths app). Plus I was only passing on the information I'd been given (I'm not directly involved in the development).

As for the upgrade procedure, I understand that the reason you have to click again is that in future there may be other upgrades available so you need to select the upgrade from a list (which currently only has one entry); I gather this mechanism is fairly standard for in-app upgrades.