Last month in Oregon I met some folks who graciously took me birding. I was looking for several birds to add to my lifelist, and Arden and Sherry were able to help me find those birds. Sherry used an ipod nano with a speaker to play the bird calls which helps to attune the ear to the birdsong you want to hear. In addition, if the bird is in the area, it will often show itself to check out the ‘interloper’ in the territory. I was surprised to see how quickly we were able to spot the desired species.
So I have taken the plunge myself. I ordered the Gold Edition of Thayer’s Birds of North America which contains birdsongs for over 700 North American species, as well as photos, videos, range maps, information, articles, and a host of other good things.
Then I ordered a used (let it please be as advertised!) ipod nano, third generation. I’ll download the songs onto the ipod for use in the field. Finally, I ordered a portable speaker (Creative Sound i80) that the ipod fits into so that the birdsong can be played in the field.
Stay tuned to see how this goes.
And, if you are tracking with me, I added the Nelson’s sharp-tailed sparrow and the saltmarsh sharp-tailed sparrow to my lifelist.
Sherry tells me that the winter wren has been split into two species, so I added the Pacific wren to my list since I had seen it in Oregon some years back as well as locally here in the midwest.
