To continue with Karl Stecher's delightful moon birding comments, he, along with Jack Hailman, John Terborgh and several other high school birding buddies who became life-long birders/naturalists, introduced me to this fascinating aspect of birding back in the 50's. We would sit for hours watching the full moon in teams of two, one watching, the other recording the data. The approximate size of the bird, relative to the prominent crater, Tycho, (ie: 1/2 T, 1 T, 2 T, etc.) was recorded, as was the direction of flight (for example: in at 8 o'clock, out at 2 o'clock) and the time in seconds to cross the moon. This information gave a rough idea of how high the birds were flying, as well as its geographic direction of flight. Identifiable sounds and shapes (ducks and geese were pretty obvious) were also noted. I don't recall where the data was sent or if this work continued, but I assume it supported worthwhile migration studies. At any rate, it is indeed fun and exciting to watch the nocturnal migration this way. I would encourage any birder with a scope to give it a try during these lovely full moon evenings.
Larry Griffin Ft. Collins -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
