Birding archives: predictions from 1994
written by Drew Weber
I recently received about 15 years of old Birding magazines and in reading through them I came across an article in the February 1994 issue with predictions for technology advances in the next 25 years of birding. It is now 15 years after the article was written so I thought it would be neat to look at what has come true so far and what is still just a dream. Predictions are in the text boxes with a bit of analysis below it.
Optics were not expected to improve significantly, except for the addition of electronic gadgets like audio/video recorders and stabilization.
These gadget laden optics have certainly hit the market, but usually in lower quality optics and have not been widely adopted for use in birding. I have seen Canon's stabilized binoculars featuring 12x and 15x magnification used at hawkwatches but only occasionally as the optics don't match up to the Swarovski and Zeiss binoculars hawk watchers are fond of. There are also binoculars with cameras built in but the binoculars are subpar and the cameras too gimmicky to record anything useful. Zeiss has now introduced an eyepiece for their scope that can take images without any additional attachments. The RememBird (right) is an audio recorder that fits on your binoculars and allows you to record field notes as well as bird songs and play them back. So, there have been advances in the gadgets that couple with birding optics, but they have not reached widespread usage at this point.
The real advances were predicted to be around the devices we would carry into the field with us. Electronic field guides no bigger than a Golden Guide would provide users with complete text and plates for 200 bird guides. Also, multiple vocalizations, including all songs, flight calls and contact calls would be available for instant comparison. Going even further, it was predicted that this device could identify the song of an unseen bird for you.
We are almost there. From the National Geographic Handheld Birds for Palm to iBird Explorer (at left) for the iPhone and Windows Mobile platforms, we have very portable bird guides. A basic version of Peterson's Field Guide to the Birds is also available on the iPhone. Unfortunately, we still have a while to wait until either of these provide the complete text and plates from 200 bird guides, but with internet access to sites such as Birds of NA Online from the iPhone, there is a plethora of information available. Loading up any iPod with a whole variety of songs, flight calls and other bird noises is now possible, assuming you have all the CD's. The software birdJam, has made it simple to organize Stokes Field Guide to Bird Song CD's for quick access on an iPod. We are still waiting for a small device that can identify bird song, but one recent attempt was the Song Sleuth, which is now out of production. They are planning on releasing a new design at some point.
Listservs and other websites for sharing sightings were predicted to become widespread.
Listservs and websites for sharing sightings have all been around for quite a while at this point. You can access all the birding listservs at BirdingOnThe.Net. The real growth recently has been in the numbers of websites devoted to birders sharing their sightings. eBird is an early example, but other sites devoted more towards listing such as Birdstack have popped up. A twitter-based sightings site, ChirpTracker, provides instant bird sightings. With services such as twitpic for mobile phones, birds can be photographed and sightings shared in seconds. There is even a map-based site, Aviatlas, that provides info on birding sites worldwide, with info on yearly bird occurences.
Many of the predictions in the Birding article have proven accurate, with still 10 years left to go. It seems safe to say that is getting easier and easier to let others know about bird sightings. It will be interesting to see what the next 10 years bring.
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Pintail parade
written by Drew Weber
Octorara Lake has been a great spot to see Northern Pintails this year. The last time I checked the area off of Mt Eden Rd, there were probably close to one thousand pintails feeding there. I was looking for a previously reported Eurasian Wigeon but struck out on that. Eurasian Wigeons have made quite a showing in PA this year, with sightings in at least Lancaster, Berks, Delaware counties.
Here is a list of the other birds I saw at Octorara Lake-
- Canada Goose - Branta canadensis 300
- Wood Duck - Aix sponsa 1
- American Wigeon - Anas americana 4
- American Black Duck - Anas rubripes 12
- Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos 30
- Northern Pintail - Anas acuta 900
- Ring-necked Duck - Aythya collaris 56
- Hooded Merganser - Lophodytes cucullatus 4
- Common Merganser - Mergus merganser 120
- Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias 1
- Black Vulture - Coragyps atratus 4
- Turkey Vulture - Cathartes aura 8
- Bald Eagle - Haliaeetus leucocephalus 2
- Red-tailed Hawk - Buteo jamaicensis 1
- American Kestrel - Falco sparverius 1
- Ring-billed Gull - Larus delawarensis 60
- Herring Gull - Larus argentatus 3
- Mourning Dove - Zenaida macroura 2
- Belted Kingfisher - Megaceryle alcyon 1
- Red-bellied Woodpecker - Melanerpes carolinus 1
- Downy Woodpecker - Picoides pubescens 1
- Northern Flicker - Colaptes auratus 2
- Blue Jay - Cyanocitta cristata 4
- American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos 20
- Carolina Chickadee - Poecile carolinensis 3
- Tufted Titmouse - Baeolophus bicolor 2
- White-breasted Nuthatch - Sitta carolinensis 1
- Carolina Wren - Thryothorus ludovicianus 3
- Winter Wren - Troglodytes troglodytes 2
- Golden-crowned Kinglet - Regulus satrapa 2
- Eastern Bluebird - Sialia sialis 2
- American Robin - Turdus migratorius 19
- Northern Mockingbird - Mimus polyglottos 1
- European Starling - Sturnus vulgaris 20
- Field Sparrow - Spizella pusilla 1
- Song Sparrow - Melospiza melodia 8
- White-throated Sparrow - Zonotrichia albicollis 12
- Dark-eyed Junco - Junco hyemalis 80
- Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis 4
- Red-winged Blackbird - Agelaius phoeniceus 120
- Common Grackle - Quiscalus quiscula 800
- House Finch - Carpodacus mexicanus 3
- Pine Siskin - Carduelis pinus 16
- American Goldfinch - Carduelis tristis X
The Snow Goose phenomenon
written by Drew Weber
Every year at this time, a natural phenomenon is occuring at Middle Creek Wildlife Management area. Until mid-February, Snow Geese were hanging out in the Delaware Bay and south, pigging out and waiting for the weather to start warming up. Snow Geese numbers start building towards the end of February and usually reach a peak at Middle Creek around the first week of March. Numbers can peak at over 150,000 Snow Geese and they are accompanied by large numbers of Canada Geese, up to 10,000 Tundra Swans and most other common species of ducks.
blue phase Snow Goose
The most spectacular sight at Middle Creek is early in the morning when a large percentage of the geese take off from the lake and head to nearby fields to forage. The sky can be filled from horizon to horizon by the noisy birds as they fly overhead. This happens again in the evening as they flow back into the lake from the surrounding farm fields.
Snow Geese are a beautiful bird with their all-white bodies and black wingtips which makes them particularly stunning to see against a blue sky. They also come in a 'blue phase' and several intermediate phases as well. I personally think that the 'blue phase' is more striking than the white phase. This may be due to their relative rarity in a flock of Snow Geese.
Snow Geese can be quite long-lived (some over 26 years old), and combined with the fact that they are protected, their population has exploded in recent years. An older estimate from 1997 put their numbers at around 6.7 million birds, based on surveys done on the breeding ground. Numbers now are even higher. Unfortunately, this population explosion has lead to habitat degradation along the Atlantic Coast where they winter.
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