Gosney's Guide To The Internet |
Some of you may have already used my books to help you find the best birds. Well, here's a quick guide to help you find the best sites on the Internet. I'm not saying there aren't other great sites out there as well, but here are details of the most exciting sites I've found so far. Let me know if you've found any more gems. If you want to find out more about the birds of an area before you go, here are two amazing sites: www.camacdonald.com/birding/birding.htm This is a site run by Tina Macdonald who has searched the Internet for birdwatching news and information covering as many countries as possible. So, if you want to find lots of web pages that have been produced covering birdwatching in say, Turkey, you just have to click on 'Turkey' within her listings and you'll get details of what's available – websites by Turkish birdwatchers, Turkish conservation biologists, tour companies that go to Turkey, trip reports by birders who've been there, etc. Thanks Tina, it's brilliant. So far there are lots more birding websites in America than in Europe and some of them are superb. Here are two of the best. www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/bbs.html This site is run by a government agency that provides tons of free information online. What they've put together is effectively a factfile on most, if not all, the birds of the USA. This includes, for each species, notes on how to identify it, details of its life history (where it nests, where it migrates to, etc.), a photograph (usually superb) and detailed distribution maps showing the relative abundance of that species throughout the USA in summer and winter. It's awesome and it's free. This is the cleverest site I've seen on the web. It's effectively an online magazine with articles and photos, etc. What makes it really outstanding though is a facility called 'Virtual Bird Tour'. This takes you on a virtual birdwatching tour of either Florida or the Boston area. Wherever you go, you will see a panoramic habitat photo which includes images of birds in the sky, in the bushes or on the lake, etc. Click on any image and it will magnify it and offer you a choice of what species it might be. You have to try to identify it and if you get it right you get points; if it takes two guesses you only get half as many points. Each tour has over 100 birds to identify so it is effectively a very sophisticated bird quiz on American birds. Despite the enormous amount of work that must have gone into this, it is available free of charge. Try it, it's great fun. Visiting Hungary? On a recent trip to Hungary [May 2003] I discovered a terrific guesthouse, which is run by a Dutch birder, Rob de Jong, and his Hungarian wife Barbara. The house itself is set at the foot of the Bukk Hills just north of the Hortobagy and from there Rob runs trips to show people birds such as eagles, flycatchers, woodpeckers and bustards. For further details visit www.farmlator.hu Thinking of buying binoculars or a telescope or a tripod? Would you like know what other birders think of the model you're about to buy? Then here's a website just for you. Someone has gone to the trouble of finding all the comments posted by birdwatchers on the web, describing what they think of their optics. This means all you need to do is click on 'telescopes' then 'Nikon' to get lots of feedback on their different models. These are presumably genuinely impartial comments, but bear in mind that you shouldn't expect many birders saying 'this is rubbish, I was stupid to buy it'. So far I've only managed to find a few webcams but there will hopefully be others set up during the breeding season. If you know of any more, please let us know. 'Deb' lives in 'sunny Florida' and has a camera pointed at the bird feeder in her garden. Every 2 minutes it produces a new image which is quickly available downline. At night this image is always black and even by day there are times when there are no birds at the feeder but there are also lots of 'here's one I filmed earlier' sections featuring a range of species including Painted Bunting. Frankly though, I hope it won't be long before we find a better webcam than this. Well, if you fancy watching 'Peregrines in Cyberspace', check out: www.kodak.com/US/en/corp/features/birdcam2000 Four cameras have been monitoring a breeding pair of Peregrine Falcons named Mariah and Cabot-Sirocco at their nest site on top of the Kodak building in Rochester, New York, USA. The webcam's pics are virtually real-time, being updated every five minutes and expanded on through a 'recent highlights' section. Admirably adaptable, the Peregrines have replaced their usual cliff-face habitat with a lofty, city-slicker lifestyle on top of a man-made mountain. The latest news is that four eggs had hatched by May 7th 2000 and the chicks were not camera shy, indeed they showed very well! This was the pair's 3rd brood at the site, and of the four chicks that hatched two have survived. One, a female named Mary Ann, was fitted with a Global Satellite Positioning device, the other - a male - is yet to be identified as either Mr Money or McKeever. The GPS currently reports Mary Ann's location every 96 hours, while the live webcams are shut down during the Peregrine's annual migration (they will be reactivated next spring). Meanwhile. if you visit the website, the Peregrine's Family Tree page is an impressive body of work, a well-researched must. Indeed the whole site is well designed and informative, with many interesting features including the Peregrine Postcard facility, which offers you the opportunity to e-mail an image and personalised message gratis...nice touch and no doubt an effective way to promote the project! Obviously, they are a shrewd pair of Peregrines that selected the Kodak building, knowing full well that Kodak's executives would snap up the eco-friendly publicity, guaranteeing website fame and an 'all mod-cons' nest box. It's an imaginative example of the modern approach to nature management/conservation, working with industry to benefit all parties involved, as opposed to being at odds (which can sometimes be counterproductive). I am reminded of the RSPB Reserve at Dungeness (where I have been treated to superb Peregrine sightings). Positioned adjacent to a bleak nuclear power station, the reserve reclaims neighbouring land after the ARC gravel companies' endeavours have scarred the landscape (producing vast watery quarries). Nature is then allowed to regenerate new habitat, turning the shingle excavations into precious wildlife sanctuaries. Do visit the Peregrine Kodak website, and in particular click on to the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) as it offers lots of valuable Peregrine info, whilst we await their return to the nest box sometime in spring 2001. Reviewed for BirdGuides by Perry Haines Want to see some pretty pictures? If you want to browse through a library of paintings and photographs of mainly British and European birds then you might like this site: birdcare.com/birdon/newusers.html This gives you access to a library that includes lots of beautiful paintings (e.g. by Robert Gillmor), a small number of articles on selected species (by Chris Mead), and a really useful glossary of birdwatching terms (taken from the Poyser book A Birdwatcher's Dictionary). Until our footage library is up and running this is about the best site of its kind, at least in Europe. Interested in Ospreys? This is a fantastic home-grown UK webite, dedicated to a marvellous cause and indeed a brilliant bird - the Osprey. The Anglian Water Osprey Project, in partnership with the Leicestershire and Outland Wildlife Trust and in Scotland with Roy Dennis MBE, provide between them the resources to encourage Ospreys to breed in England as in Scotland, extending the UK breeding range so as to enhance chances of survival. Reintroduced to England from the Scottish population, 10 birds have been fitted with tail-mounted Global Satellite Positioning monitors in both 1999 and 2000. So, the European nominate subspecies haliaetus can be tracked as they travel south, as far as West Africa. Facts to be found at this site include latest Osprey migration news updates, which on 5th December 2000 included:
The whole site is jam-packed with thought-provoking information and some terrific photos. Did you know that in 1967 only 2 known breeding pairs were present in Scotland, whilst in 1999 there were 136? This year 125 pairs laid eggs. Of these 87 pairs reared 183 young, which goes to show how important the project's good work is, and indeed why this site is a must when cyber-birding on the web! Meanwhile...late next March the live webcams will be switched back on at the Ospreys' RSPB site at Loch Garten; for now you can browse their archives from this year's nesting Osprey at www.rspb.org.uk/webcams. There you will find Merlin, Hen Harrier, Bittern and seabird webcam archives too, and an up-and-running webcam at Loch Gruinart that runs from 9th October to April 2001, and currently 'stars' recently arrived Barnacle Geese - well worth a visit. Reviewed for BirdGuides by Perry Haines Honey Buzzard Invasion 2000....Read All About It! www.southeastbirdnews.co.uk/honeybuzzard_influx.htm The latter part of September and early October 2000 witnessed an unprecedented Honey Buzzard invasion across the UK. Birders had the opportunity of fantastic views when Honey Buzzards (mostly juveniles) arrived from northern Europe all along the East Coast, then made their way south across the country heading back towards the continent to continue their Africa-bound migration. The main movement between 21st September and 2nd October saw in excess of 700 birds pass through the South-east (and that figure takes duplications into account!) Phenomenal sightings included 62 birds seen in one day at Beachy Head. These facts and figures are supplied by Birdline South East, who have compiled a 'Honey Buzzard report', choc-a-bloc with information from their region and available at their website. Reviewed for BirdGuides by Perry Haines |