We are told to be more ecological. Meanwhile what is the carbon footprint of that guy.
The correct solution to excessive carbon footprint is taxation, not shaming individuals.
A birder's quest to see 10k species
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Re: A birder's quest to see 10k species
#12We are told to be more ecological. Meanwhile what is the carbon footprint of that guy.
I've worked with Peter.
Ages ago, archeologists would join their country's diplomatic service for the chance to be paid to travel and live in far corners and dig. Peter joined the Foreign Service to bird, for much the same reason. Not much of a carbon footprint to hop in a car and visit neighboring countries. It's what we all did, to see the sights. But Peter did it to see birds.
A very, very nice man. I worked with him for over a year before I was told his status in the birding community, and I didn't hear it from Peter - he didn't talk about birds in the office: hardly anyone that was not his close friend knew he was an obsessive.
But again, to your point. The government ferried us around the world and dropped us off in interesting places where we lived for generally, about 3 years and then moved on. He took advantage of that and I would imagine his footprint is about the same as anyone who takes a car to see the neighboring sights on a weekend.
Re: A birder's quest to see 10k species
#13I have seen about 180. Nothing to brag about but it has taken me about 10 years. I have not been obsessive about it but has been a leisure activity many weekends. I have done it around the area I have been, but not travelled further than maybe 2, max 3 hours for the point of it. It is a nice hobby, sharpens your senses and it is fulfilling to observe nature. Compare for example with Pokemon Go, I find it infinitely m…
It’s more healthy not to be so “obsessive” and just do it because it’s a fun way to get outdoors.
Though the obsessive ones get celebrated it seems like a kind of madness, I wonder if they even enjoy it.
I do like photographing birds. So I’ll often bring my camera.
Once and while you’ll see something different like a heron catching fish.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/acomjean/9661826854/in/photost...
But a lot of times it’s just different ducks. https://www.flickr.com/photos/acomjean/50990143647/in/photos...
Re: A birder's quest to see 10k species
#14I have seen about 180. Nothing to brag about but it has taken me about 10 years. I have not been obsessive about it but has been a leisure activity many weekends. I have done it around the area I have been, but not travelled further than maybe 2, max 3 hours for the point of it. It is a nice hobby, sharpens your senses and it is fulfilling to observe nature. Compare for example with Pokemon Go, I find it infinitely m…
I'm not an exclusive bird observer. I make observations of 'moving' organisms from mammals to invertebrates, recording my observations on iNaturalist [1], which is a pretty good way for me to track what I've seen. [1] https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&user_i...
I'm always surprised by the quality of insect pictures on inaturalist. What are you using?
My focus has been on fungi and plants, but I try to scan what people are recording in my region just to keep up with what is around, where it is and what time of life it is. The turtles laying eggs around now are worth keeping an eye out for as an example.
Re: A birder's quest to see 10k species
#15I've been a casual birder for a couple years now. I've been hearing about the Merlin app for a while, but never installed it until this past week. It has profoundly changed my experience of looking for birds. If you're unfamiliar with the app, you can start recording on your phone and it will tell you in real time which birds are singing nearby. I haven't used it for positive identifications, just for knowing which b…
Merlin has altered my relationship to the natural world, even in my urban neighborhood. I'm much, much more "present" when I'm walking. Even when I'm not using the app, I'm always listening. When I go hiking, it's always with me (it works in airplane mode).
Re: A birder's quest to see 10k species
#16I have seen about 180. Nothing to brag about but it has taken me about 10 years. I have not been obsessive about it but has been a leisure activity many weekends. I have done it around the area I have been, but not travelled further than maybe 2, max 3 hours for the point of it. It is a nice hobby, sharpens your senses and it is fulfilling to observe nature. Compare for example with Pokemon Go, I find it infinitely m…
> Compare for example with Pokemon Go, I find it infinitely more rewarding to "hunt" something real.
Ha, that’s exactly how I describe mushrooming. You might find it similarly satisfying, though if you plan on foraging for food I recommend taking a course on identification (most communities have a mycology club) and sticking to the basics.
Re: A birder's quest to see 10k species
#17I've been a casual birder for a couple years now. I've been hearing about the Merlin app for a while, but never installed it until this past week. It has profoundly changed my experience of looking for birds. If you're unfamiliar with the app, you can start recording on your phone and it will tell you in real time which birds are singing nearby. I haven't used it for positive identifications, just for knowing which b…
Merlin really is great. My wife and I refer to it as Shazam for birds.
Re: A birder's quest to see 10k species
#18I've been a casual birder for a couple years now. I've been hearing about the Merlin app for a while, but never installed it until this past week. It has profoundly changed my experience of looking for birds. If you're unfamiliar with the app, you can start recording on your phone and it will tell you in real time which birds are singing nearby. I haven't used it for positive identifications, just for knowing which b…
I've been using BirdNet for a while. Is Merlin significantly better?
Re: A birder's quest to see 10k species
#19I've been a casual birder for a couple years now. I've been hearing about the Merlin app for a while, but never installed it until this past week. It has profoundly changed my experience of looking for birds. If you're unfamiliar with the app, you can start recording on your phone and it will tell you in real time which birds are singing nearby. I haven't used it for positive identifications, just for knowing which b…
I’ve been using BirdNET for a few years now. Looks like it is the same university that makes Merlin.
Re: A birder's quest to see 10k species
#20I have seen about 180. Nothing to brag about but it has taken me about 10 years. I have not been obsessive about it but has been a leisure activity many weekends. I have done it around the area I have been, but not travelled further than maybe 2, max 3 hours for the point of it. It is a nice hobby, sharpens your senses and it is fulfilling to observe nature. Compare for example with Pokemon Go, I find it infinitely m…
It’s more healthy not to be so “obsessive” and just do it because it’s a fun way to get outdoors. Though the obsessive ones get celebrated it seems like a kind of madness, I wonder if they even enjoy it. I do like photographing birds. So I’ll often bring my camera. Once and while you’ll see something different like a heron catching fish. https://www.flickr.com/photos/acomjean/9661826854/in/photost... But a lot of tim…
Cool! Flickr actually has a group "Field Guide: Birds of the World" and it tags photos of birds with their species. Combined with Flickr's API this is a gold mine to retrieve freely licensed photos of birds by species. The majority when I looked were tagged "All rights reserved", but most common species have at least a handful with Creative Commons license.