Re: [cayugabirds-l] Virtual Shorebird Walks: 2 YouTube videos
Thanks Dave. I'll take a look. I'm especially interested in learning to better i.d. those darn baird's. Thanks to both you and Feris for agreeing to do this for Andrea so we could at least experience our beloved shorebirds - if only vicariously. Thanks as well for taking the time to share with the rest of us. Take care and stay safe. Pete Sar On Mon, Aug 31, 2020, 3:07 PM Dave Nutter wrote: > The COVID-19 pandemic caused Montezuma NWR to modify the popular Guided > Shorebird Walks this summer, so that we no longer have dozens of birders > crowding to get views, share scopes, and discuss IDs. Instead, the former > guides were asked to gather material for social media with only one or two > assistants. Perhaps some of you have been wondering, “What ever became of > those ‘Virtual Shorebird Walks’?” Well, I want to share some stuff with > you. But first some introductory info. > > Preparing media material takes more time than just going out in the field > together, finding birds, and discussing them, so there has been some delay. > I invited Ferris Akel to join me on the dikes, because for a number of > years he has been doing live-streamed video when he goes birding, and one > of his favorite places to go is Montezuma NWR. > > We are not the BBC and David Attenborough well supplied with staff, time, > and money. We are a couple of volunteers who live in the area, and love > birding, and are trying to share our skills in hopes of being helpful. What > we show is not TV or movie quality. Instead it is what we actually > encountered. When you go birding you contend with the everyday conditions > of lighting, heat, wind, noise, distance, fussy equipment, the challenge of > describing to someone where to see the bird you are looking at, the > distraction of multiple birds at a time, and the frustration of an > interesting bird hiding or leaving. We played the hand we were dealt, and > it’s all there in the live-streamed versions which are archived on YouTube. > > Ferris has also gone the extra mile to do some recording and editing to > produce shorter versions which leave out some of the walking, searching, > and confusion to concentrate on the views and discussion of the birds. I > try to focus on how to ID birds with or without comparisons between similar > species, and interesting behavior. While shorebirds were a priority, darned > if we were going to ignore everything else. Our first try working together > is in a 51:17 edited version, which you can find if you google this title: > > Knox-Marsellus Marsh With Dave Nutter, 8/15/2020 (HD) > > In this first video we see backlit eclipse Mallards and Blue-winged Teal > (the Green-winged Teal for comparison went AWOL), Greater and Lesser > Yellowlegs, Spotted Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, > Semipalmated Sandpiper, and Solitary Sandpiper. Although Killdeer and > Semipalmated Plover are also shown, I did not discuss their ID and > comparison because I was concentrating on the sandpipers, but to sum up > their comparison, a Semipalmated Plover is like a half Killdeer - 45g v > 95g, a single dark stripe across the breast instead of two, a bill which is > closer to a quarter the length of the head instead of a half, a half-length > tail, and half as flamboyant - no orange rump, and not *vociferus *(the > Killdeer’s appropriate specific Latin name). A family of Sandhill Cranes > also makes an appearance. > > When you do that Google search, another 11:44 video may pop up alongside > it entitled: > > Bird Watching Challenging Situations, 8/22/2020 (HD) > > This is an edited portion of our trip the following weekend. It starts > with a chance to see in better light both Mallard and Blue-winged Teal > which we showed and discussed in the previous video. Then there’s a fun > view of a flock of ducks flying while I remark on a couple of species that > were flying in a different flock. This nicely lit portion was from the east > dike at Knox-Marsellus near Towpath Rd. > > But we also went to Van Dyne Spoor Road, where we had some terribly > backlit views of distant sandpipers accompanied by other people talking as > well as our struggles to point one another to birds among bits of stubble > and weeds on the mud. I think Ferris was reluctant to include this video > because the views are not aesthetically pleasing. Understandably, he would > rather highlight the many more beautiful parts of his work. I have tried to > make the argument to him that this is educational. What we demonstrate is > that even with very few clues, it is possible to ID a bird. > > Ferris first shows a bird which I had initially overlooked in my scope as > a piece of fluff, and then when I glanced at his view-finder I did not see > enough detail to ID it. However, looking at his longer video afterward, I > saw the bird turn its head so that I could ID it as a Semipalmated > Sandpiper on the basis of a straight bill about the length of the head > along with a plain pale breast. This
[cayugabirds-l] Virtual Shorebird Walks: 2 YouTube videos
The COVID-19 pandemic caused Montezuma NWR to modify the popular Guided Shorebird Walks this summer, so that we no longer have dozens of birders crowding to get views, share scopes, and discuss IDs. Instead, the former guides were asked to gather material for social media with only one or two assistants. Perhaps some of you have been wondering, “What ever became of those ‘Virtual Shorebird Walks’?” Well, I want to share some stuff with you. But first some introductory info. Preparing media material takes more time than just going out in the field together, finding birds, and discussing them, so there has been some delay. I invited Ferris Akel to join me on the dikes, because for a number of years he has been doing live-streamed video when he goes birding, and one of his favorite places to go is Montezuma NWR. We are not the BBC and David Attenborough well supplied with staff, time, and money. We are a couple of volunteers who live in the area, and love birding, and are trying to share our skills in hopes of being helpful. What we show is not TV or movie quality. Instead it is what we actually encountered. When you go birding you contend with the everyday conditions of lighting, heat, wind, noise, distance, fussy equipment, the challenge of describing to someone where to see the bird you are looking at, the distraction of multiple birds at a time, and the frustration of an interesting bird hiding or leaving. We played the hand we were dealt, and it’s all there in the live-streamed versions which are archived on YouTube. Ferris has also gone the extra mile to do some recording and editing to produce shorter versions which leave out some of the walking, searching, and confusion to concentrate on the views and discussion of the birds. I try to focus on how to ID birds with or without comparisons between similar species, and interesting behavior. While shorebirds were a priority, darned if we were going to ignore everything else. Our first try working together is in a 51:17 edited version, which you can find if you google this title: Knox-Marsellus Marsh With Dave Nutter, 8/15/2020 (HD) In this first video we see backlit eclipse Mallards and Blue-winged Teal (the Green-winged Teal for comparison went AWOL), Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Spotted Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, and Solitary Sandpiper. Although Killdeer and Semipalmated Plover are also shown, I did not discuss their ID and comparison because I was concentrating on the sandpipers, but to sum up their comparison, a Semipalmated Plover is like a half Killdeer - 45g v 95g, a single dark stripe across the breast instead of two, a bill which is closer to a quarter the length of the head instead of a half, a half-length tail, and half as flamboyant - no orange rump, and not vociferus (the Killdeer’s appropriate specific Latin name). A family of Sandhill Cranes also makes an appearance. When you do that Google search, another 11:44 video may pop up alongside it entitled: Bird Watching Challenging Situations, 8/22/2020 (HD) This is an edited portion of our trip the following weekend. It starts with a chance to see in better light both Mallard and Blue-winged Teal which we showed and discussed in the previous video. Then there’s a fun view of a flock of ducks flying while I remark on a couple of species that were flying in a different flock. This nicely lit portion was from the east dike at Knox-Marsellus near Towpath Rd. But we also went to Van Dyne Spoor Road, where we had some terribly backlit views of distant sandpipers accompanied by other people talking as well as our struggles to point one another to birds among bits of stubble and weeds on the mud. I think Ferris was reluctant to include this video because the views are not aesthetically pleasing. Understandably, he would rather highlight the many more beautiful parts of his work. I have tried to make the argument to him that this is educational. What we demonstrate is that even with very few clues, it is possible to ID a bird. Ferris first shows a bird which I had initially overlooked in my scope as a piece of fluff, and then when I glanced at his view-finder I did not see enough detail to ID it. However, looking at his longer video afterward, I saw the bird turn its head so that I could ID it as a Semipalmated Sandpiper on the basis of a straight bill about the length of the head along with a plain pale breast. This eliminates all the other shorebird species we saw there, including Killdeer, Semipalmated Plover, Least Sandpiper, and Baird’s Sandpiper, plus some we did not see, such as Pectoral Sandpiper and White-rumped Sandpiper. However, adding this information to the video would take more time and further reduce the visual quality. Next we concentrate on the ID of a Baird’s Sandpiper compared to Least Sandpiper on the basis of size, shape, and general color, starting with the
