The Born Again Birder

Sure I ripped off the title of an article in Good Birders Don't Wear White, but I'm sure they won't mind...

To understand what a Born Again Birder is, you must understand the origin of the term.  As a Christian myself, I can attest to the fact that you reach a point in your walk with Christ where you have this great fire burning inside.  Everything changes.  The Bible passages that you've read a million times take on new meaning.  All that matters to you is sharing God's love with everyone you meet.  Your desire is that others can have what you have!  Some may think that the term "Born Again Birder" is sacreligious, but I disagree.  The term does not distort its original meaning.  But what does it have to do with birding?  A Born Again Birder is one that wants to share his love of birding with others so that they can experienced the joy of it.  It saddens me to think that some birders keep their wonderful hobby to themselves.  I was honored to be able to share my love for birding with the 8 year old son of our family friends.  Desmond and I have both loved birds since a young age, but he got a big head start on me!  He soon began keeping a life list.  He has been birding in California. Arizona, Montana, and Washington as of now.  He has a very sharp eye and a natural skill in bird identification.  We would often go birding together at my old patch and I found as much joy in finding him lifers as I did for my own life list!  It's a great thing to be able to share your passion with someone else.  You will never regret it!    

This is Desmond and I doing a little birding at the Anthem Community Park in Arizona.    

I would like to invite you all to check out Desmond's page on Project Noah where he posts many of his photos of wildlife he encounters:  

http://www.projectnoah.org/users/Desmond.E.S.O

Godspeed and good birding!

- Joshua

My Old Patch

Most birders have patches even if they don't know what a patch is.  A patch is simply a certain area that you spend a lot of time at looking for birds.  This could be your backyard or even a major birding hotspot.  My first patch was located behind my church in Claremont, CA.  More specifically, the empty land on either side of Webb Canyon Road.  It was a great place to explore; there were grassy fields, chaparral, and oak woodlands.  It was there that I started birding seriously.

One of the many giant live oaks that comprised the small woodland

The chaparral habitat

I have loved animals; especially birds since a very young age.  My parents knew it and encouraged me to learn more by giving me books to read and wildlife documentaries to watch.  I was practically raised on Zaboomafoo and Steve Irwin!  In 2012, I saw a movie called The Big Year.  It was comedy about 3 birders who were competing to see the greatest number of bird species in a calendar year.  I watched intently as they added species to their life lists - I had never heard of listing before.  Immediately after finishing the film, I started compiling a list of the bird species I had seen.  I eventually bought my first field guide - Peterson's Guide To The Birds Of North America.  I also bought a cheap pair of binoculars and a point-and-shoot camera.  Now armed with the tools of the trade, I proceeded to explore my favorite patch.  It seemed that every time I went out, I saw something new.  Eventually, it became more and more difficult to find life birds and I shifted my focus to insects, then plants, and finally herps.  Eventually, I returned to my love of birding.  I paid more attention to the birds in the area and wound up finding a few more life birds.  I studied their habits, songs, and arrivals/departures quite extensively.  Unfortunately, I did all of this before I knew about eBird.  If you don't know what eBird is, then I highly recommend that you look it up.  It's an excellent way to keep track of your sightings and those of others all around the world.  Every time you upload a checklist, the site generates life, year, month, country, state, and county lists saving you hours of organization!

Back to my old patch now...

I have observed over 80 species of birds there during my years of birding.  To finish this post, I want to share with you some of the memorable birds that I spent time with at my old patch.

Pacific-slope Flycatchers are common in Spring and Summer.

I often heard their "peerweet" call from the oaks.

Once, I found a Steller's Jay in a Toyon bush.  

It was quite unusual to see it at such a low elevation.

The Wrentit is a Pacific Coast specialty.  

At my old patch, I could hear their unique songs on occasion.

The California Thrasher was arguably my favorite bird to find there.

Phainopepla were common during Summer.

This colorful male Hooded Oriole and its mate would come through 

the area on occasion in the Summer.

I had the pleasure of finding a male Purple Finch eating some Toyon berries one foggy morning.

Godspeed and good birding,

- Joshua

When Arizona Trash Birds Are Lifers

This is my first post of my first blog; I have a ton of great stories that I want to share.  But before I begin writing new posts, I wanted to write of some of my past experiences.

I have lived in California all of my life and after a great job opportunity for my Dad, my family decided to move to Arizona.  As a birder, I couldn't have been more excited!  I spent hours poring over the recent eBird sightings and spent a considerable amount of time making target species lists.  The bird I wanted to see most in Arizona was not an Elegant Trogon, LeConte's Thrasher, or Five-striped Sparrow; it was the humble Cactus Wren.  I had heard its idyllic and mechanical call only in movies before, and to me, that sound was the soul of Arizona and I wanted to hear it for real.  My family drove out to Arizona in the spring of 2014 for my Dad's job interview and we decided to make it a little vacation.  I remember it like it  just happened...

My family just stopped to meet with a realtor in Anthem, AZ.  It was around 110 F and this Californian was cooking!  However, not even the heat would stop me.  I drank some icy cold water, grabbed my bins and camera, and left the nice AC in the car behind.  I wandered the parking lot; it was thrilling because I knew that potential life birds were everywhere.  In that parking lot, I found two.  My beloved Cactus Wren and the spunky little Verdin!

My first photo of the Cactus Wren

I take my binoculars everywhere I go now.  You may ask:

"Even when you're driving to the grocery store?!"

Absolutely.  I sincerely believe that the good birds come out into the open only when you've put your optics away in the car and just sat down on the bumper of your car to eat a sandwich.  That has happened all too often.  Because I am a slightly paranoid birder, I've mastered some of the most important skills in backseat birding.  You know that no one's gonna stop for that unknown raptor on a telephone pole along the freeway if you're traveling with others.  You now have three options:  beg vainly for the driver to pull over, ignore the bird, or try to observe as many field marks as possible in the two seconds you have with it.  I prefer option # 3.  Here are some tips:  1.  Learn how to acquire a target in the car.  Know how to maneuver your bins around the headrests and windows so the bird is not obstructed from your view.  2.  Learn the fast draw.  You don't have to be Wyatt Earp, but it helps to practice focusing on distant objects quickly with your binoculars.  3.  Learn to let go sometimes.  This is the hardest of them all.  You can't identify every bird you see down to the species.  It's always worth a try, but sometimes, that hawk is just gonna have to be a hawk sp. on your eBird checklist.