Let's Go Birding - Tips from an Expert
Harry Fuller describes how to describe things!
© Matt Knoth
Join members of the Klamath Bird Observatory in Ashland, Oregon, as they head east over the Cascade Mountains and drop down into the Great Basin. They're looking in particular for diurnal raptors, that is, eagles, hawks, harriers, vultures, and falcons that soar and hunt during the day. To describe where a bird is in your field of view, imagine the face of a clock, vertical, directly in front of you. Then call out your bird at its position on the clock. Like this: "There's an eagle flying above the ridgeline to our left at about ten o'clock to most people." And how to identify what you see? "It's a Golden Eagle with a short head-to-tail ratio. Long tail, stubby head!"
BirdNote®
Let’s Go Birding! Come Along!
Written by Chris Peterson
This is BirdNote!
Jump in! Let’s go birding! [Doors close, engine starts] Come along with members of the Klamath Bird Observatory in Ashland, Oregon, as we head east over the Cascade Mountains and drop down into the Great Basin.
[Rumble inside car]
Today, we’ll be looking in particular for diurnal raptors, that is, eagles, hawks, harriers, vultures, and falcons that soar and hunt during the day.
When you spot one, call it out. You don’t have to know exactly what it is, just help the rest of us locate it. Use the walkie-talkie, so we can let those in the other cars know, too.
Harry Fuller: “Ah…Second post from the left….as we go out…perpendicular to the road, there’s a Red-tailed Hawk on the right side of the post on the top.” Bleep!
To describe where a bird is in your field of view, imagine the face of a clock, vertical, directly in front of you. Then call out your bird at its position on the clock. Like this:
Dick Ashford: “There’s an eagle flying above the ridgeline to our left at about ten o’clock to most people.”
Oh, my gosh! That might be a Golden Eagle. We gotta step out into the wind and have a look! [Wind]
Dick Ashford: “It’s a Golden Eagle with a short head-to-tail ratio. Look at this! Long tail…stubby head! See that! Perfect!”
Yes indeed! We’re glad you came along.
For BirdNote, I’m Mary McCann. To find groups to go birding with, begin at birdnote.org.
Birder: “Raptor to our left on the telephone pole.” Bleep! “Got it!” Bleep!
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All sounds recorded by C. Peterson
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Chris Peterson
© 2012 Tune In to Nature.org October 2012 Narrator: Mary McCann
ID# birding-17-2012-10-17 birding-17
Selections from Marantz III Tracks 96, 111, 99
Sights & Sounds
