It's a hobby people can start at any age; one that doesn't require a lot of equipment and can sometimes be the most fun at home.
Birding or bird-watching is a unique, fun way to explore nature, says Rick Schaefer, vice president of the Pineywoods Audubon Society.
Contributed photos/ Pat Wallace |
Birders break out their binoculars to get a better view during a field trip. Cliff Shackelford says binoculars are one of two items needed to get started in birding. He says they can range from $50 to $1,000, but recommends beginners start out with a pair that costs anywhere from $100 to $200. The other item needed to get started is a field guide, many of which retail for about $20.
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Contributed photos/ Pat Wallace |
A couple of Redbellied Woodpeckers get cozy in a tree.
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He says the hobby enables individuals to see not only beautiful species of birds, but the different habitats they reside in, too.
Most months, the society organizes regional field trips for its members, enabling them to witness these birds and benefit from the expertise of being with seasoned birders.
"Usually one person will volunteer to lead the group, and then we'll have novices and more experienced birders (attend)," Schaefer explains on a recent Monday. "The more experienced ones help out, but you don't have to be an experienced birder to join."
Starting next month, the society will begin a new series of these trips in conjunction with the Museum of East Texas' upcoming exhibit, "John James Audubon: American Artist and Naturalist." The exhibit traces the life of Audubon, a French-American ornithologist, who painted and catalogued North American birds, and features some of his original work.
Cliff Shackelford, a Texas Parks and Wildlife ornithologist and aubudon society member, says the trips are open to anyone and will be held most weekends throughout the exhibition's five-month run, which begins Sept. 27. In addition to the Lufkin-area birding trips, society members will also host lectures and presentations at the museum through Jan. 19.
"This is a really good chance for the Pineywoods Audubon Society to participate in something like this and help with public awareness of not just birds, but other conservation issues," Schaefer says.
Both he and Shackelford garnered an interest in the hobby at a young age. But, while Schaefer had a mentor to help guide his early education, Shackelford took on his own tutelage in an unusual way.
"I basically started with a BB gun. I would go shoot everything and then go look at it and say, 'Wow, that's pretty neat,'" Shackelford says. "My parents didn't like that too much, and they said, 'You need to put up the BB gun and here are some binoculars.' I'm embarrassed to say I went through a lot of birds before I learned about binoculars ... But, it's what got me over the hump and got me interested and I've been hooked ever since."
There isn't a lot of equipment needed to get started as a bird watcher, Shackelford says.
"You just need a pair of binoculars and a field guide," he says. "But, you don't need to spend $1,000 on binoculars, especially when you don't know if (birding) is for you."
He recommends spending anywhere from $200 to $300 on binoculars, and picking up a $20 U.S. field guide. Shackelford says he is unaware of a field guide for just East Texas, however, a checklist of birds and the seasons they are in the area is available online at www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/birding/pif/ecoregions, by clicking region 5 on the map.
For individuals who want to watch birds from home, he recommends creating a wildscape in the backyard.
"A wildscape is planting native plants for wildlife," he explains. "So, it would be like a wild flower garden. There are all different things you can do."
He says instead of hauling sticks to the curb as trash, make a stick pile somewhere in the yard, or keep dead trees, which woodpeckers like to nest in.
"You can do simple things in your yard to attract birds," Shackelford says, adding bird baths are also a great way to attract birds this time of year.
But, traveling can also be fun, he says, making a note of one extreme-type of birding traveler called a chaser.
Shackelford says these individuals keep a state list of birds, and as soon they find a "super rarity" (a rare breed of bird not native to the area), they jump in their car and start chasing after the bird, even if it's clear across the state.
"There are some places in the Netherlands where birders are so into it, that they have beepers that tell them that there is a rarity over on the west side of the country," he says. "It's a worldwide craze, it's not just Americans who are into it."
Texas, he says, is a big magnet for these extreme birders.
"They hear about all the great birds in the U.S. and so they'll come to Texas in April or May because they can see so many of the migrants passing through," he says. "It's kind of like coming to a family reunion when everyone comes together."
Shackelford says there are a number of Texas communities who cater to birders and benefit from the tourism dollars the hobby brings in. Most of them, he says, are along the coast and in south Texas. The pineywoods region isn't quite there yet, he says.
"I think it's coming here," he says. "I think it's expected, but it just hasn't hit here like on the coast in south Texas and the Valley."
In 2005, Shackelford published "Hummingbirds of Texas: With their New Mexico and Arizona Ranges," along with a handful of fellow authors, photographers and an illustrator.
He says the book came about from a citizen science project through the Texas Parks and Wildlife where, over the course of a decade, citizens were urged to attract hummingbirds by planting a native wildscape. They documented what they saw, what the birds ate and when the birds first arrived in their backyard.
"We pulled all that together and used some of that data in the book," Shackelford says.
The book includes information on more than 18 species of hummingbirds in Texas, as well as a few others in New Mexico and Arizona. An updated version was released a few months ago, and is widely available at national bookstore chains.
To find out more about the Pineywoods Audubon Society, visit www.pineywoodsaudubon.com and to learn more about the upcoming field trips, visit www.metlufkin.org.
