Based on all of those effortless song IDs, I think you are definitely a real birder! Beautiful writing in this essay, too, especially the opening paragraph of the scene. I was listening to AI voice reading while doing chores (the only way I can stay remotely up to date on Substack — listening and then scrolling through photos when I go to the app to click the heart button) and that grabbed my attention for sure.
Unrelated, after reading and the comments discussions about camping food I have a new hyperfocus on using my food dehydrator and blender to try all kinds of recipes. I haven't taken them camping yet and will report back when I do. I even bought new silicone dehydrator trays for fruit leather (etc) — no more relying on liners that can shift and spill things.
I used to think that song IDs were the hardest part of birding, perhaps because I have a strong childhood memory of my mom listening to "bird songs on tape" from the library to work on her ID skills. In my mind, the "easy" part was knowing what birds look like. But as I've actually started birding on purpose (rather than as a stray thought when I see a flash of color), I've realized that identifying birds on sight is really hard because you have to actually SEE the bird! Sound IDs, especially with Merlin to help, are a better fit for the way I like to be outside because I can listen and hike at the same time. Actually seeing a bird usually requires me to stop, which I'm not always willing to do!
I would love to hear about how your dehydrator recipes turn out! I'm planning to do some dehydrating this summer, so any tips would be appreciated!
I completely agree! I feel way more confident with a sound ID than visual ID. And tools like Merlin, where you can see the spectrogram with the sound, somehow help more than just hearing the sound.
I always recommend the Peterson Birding by Ear CDs, which are how I learned in 2020 when I decided to get serious about it.
Currently on the dehydrator are the following experiments: oatmeal porridge, to be turned into powder by the Vitamix and could be mixed with spices, dried fruit, coconut milk powder, etc; a breakfast on the go recipe from the Excalibur cookbook that consists of eggs, bananas, orange juice, coconut milk powder, and wheat germ, all blended and poured into my new silicone trays; and a bunch of yellow summer squash chips. I'll report back after I've tried them. The breakfast on the go sounded so weird I had to try it.
Surprisingly good! Sort of between fruit leather and a pastry, with the part that was near the edge of the tray more dry and cracker-like. It actually tastes good and not just in a “this will taste good when I’m hiking/camping and starving” way. I’m thinking of experimenting more with this and doing a chocolate almond flour version, or adding peanut butter powder.
"I may not be able to tell apart my sparrows or gulls, but identifying that Scarlet Tanager made me feel like maybe one day I will be able to call myself a real birder." After reading this, it's safe to say you are a real birder, Alice! Even a "real" birder can have trouble with the sparrows and gulls, but not all people who spend time out birding then take the time to reflect and write about it. "I didn’t plan to do any birding while in the Blue Hills for a volunteer trailbuilding event, but the birds were so insistent that it was hard not to pay attention." Sounds like something a birder would say! Thank you for sharing this--sorry I'm a few days late, but once I saw the title I was sure to save this post to give it full attention.
Truly, your essays about identification challenges have made me so much more confident about just getting out there and trying to identify what I see and hear. It's really encouraging to know that even experienced birders struggle with telling apart similar birds, so now I'm much more likely to take my guess of "some kind of a sparrow" as a win, instead of feeling like a failure because I'm not sure exactly which one it is.
I'm consistently a week behind reading all the Substack newsletters that I subscribe to, so in my book reading anything the same month it was published counts as being up-to-date!
When I was driving to a different hike today, a bird swooped over the highway and I called out, “Sandhill crane!” to the empty car, so maybe I’m more of a birder than I’ve been admitting!
Based on all of those effortless song IDs, I think you are definitely a real birder! Beautiful writing in this essay, too, especially the opening paragraph of the scene. I was listening to AI voice reading while doing chores (the only way I can stay remotely up to date on Substack — listening and then scrolling through photos when I go to the app to click the heart button) and that grabbed my attention for sure.
Unrelated, after reading and the comments discussions about camping food I have a new hyperfocus on using my food dehydrator and blender to try all kinds of recipes. I haven't taken them camping yet and will report back when I do. I even bought new silicone dehydrator trays for fruit leather (etc) — no more relying on liners that can shift and spill things.
Based on all of those effortless song IDs, I think you are definitely a real birder! Beautiful writing in this essay, too, especially the opening paragraph of the scene. I was listening to AI voice reading while doing chores (the only way I can stay remotely up to date on Substack — listening and then scrolling through photos when I go to the app to click the heart button) and that grabbed my attention for sure.
Unrelated, after reading and the comments discussions about camping food I have a new hyperfocus on using my food dehydrator and blender to try all kinds of recipes. I haven't taken them camping yet and will report back when I do. I even bought new silicone dehydrator trays for fruit leather (etc) — no more relying on liners that can shift and spill things.
I used to think that song IDs were the hardest part of birding, perhaps because I have a strong childhood memory of my mom listening to "bird songs on tape" from the library to work on her ID skills. In my mind, the "easy" part was knowing what birds look like. But as I've actually started birding on purpose (rather than as a stray thought when I see a flash of color), I've realized that identifying birds on sight is really hard because you have to actually SEE the bird! Sound IDs, especially with Merlin to help, are a better fit for the way I like to be outside because I can listen and hike at the same time. Actually seeing a bird usually requires me to stop, which I'm not always willing to do!
I would love to hear about how your dehydrator recipes turn out! I'm planning to do some dehydrating this summer, so any tips would be appreciated!
I completely agree! I feel way more confident with a sound ID than visual ID. And tools like Merlin, where you can see the spectrogram with the sound, somehow help more than just hearing the sound.
I always recommend the Peterson Birding by Ear CDs, which are how I learned in 2020 when I decided to get serious about it.
Currently on the dehydrator are the following experiments: oatmeal porridge, to be turned into powder by the Vitamix and could be mixed with spices, dried fruit, coconut milk powder, etc; a breakfast on the go recipe from the Excalibur cookbook that consists of eggs, bananas, orange juice, coconut milk powder, and wheat germ, all blended and poured into my new silicone trays; and a bunch of yellow summer squash chips. I'll report back after I've tried them. The breakfast on the go sounded so weird I had to try it.
I’ll see if my library has those CDs! Might as well do something productive on my long drives to trailheads!
I am fascinated by the “on the go” breakfast ingredients, so please do report back on the taste and texture!
Surprisingly good! Sort of between fruit leather and a pastry, with the part that was near the edge of the tray more dry and cracker-like. It actually tastes good and not just in a “this will taste good when I’m hiking/camping and starving” way. I’m thinking of experimenting more with this and doing a chocolate almond flour version, or adding peanut butter powder.
"I may not be able to tell apart my sparrows or gulls, but identifying that Scarlet Tanager made me feel like maybe one day I will be able to call myself a real birder." After reading this, it's safe to say you are a real birder, Alice! Even a "real" birder can have trouble with the sparrows and gulls, but not all people who spend time out birding then take the time to reflect and write about it. "I didn’t plan to do any birding while in the Blue Hills for a volunteer trailbuilding event, but the birds were so insistent that it was hard not to pay attention." Sounds like something a birder would say! Thank you for sharing this--sorry I'm a few days late, but once I saw the title I was sure to save this post to give it full attention.
Truly, your essays about identification challenges have made me so much more confident about just getting out there and trying to identify what I see and hear. It's really encouraging to know that even experienced birders struggle with telling apart similar birds, so now I'm much more likely to take my guess of "some kind of a sparrow" as a win, instead of feeling like a failure because I'm not sure exactly which one it is.
I'm consistently a week behind reading all the Substack newsletters that I subscribe to, so in my book reading anything the same month it was published counts as being up-to-date!
If you notice a bird and think--what's that bird?--I think you can call yourself a real birder! What a great trip and great birds!
When I was driving to a different hike today, a bird swooped over the highway and I called out, “Sandhill crane!” to the empty car, so maybe I’m more of a birder than I’ve been admitting!
Based on all of those effortless song IDs, I think you are definitely a real birder! Beautiful writing in this essay, too, especially the opening paragraph of the scene. I was listening to AI voice reading while doing chores (the only way I can stay remotely up to date on Substack — listening and then scrolling through photos when I go to the app to click the heart button) and that grabbed my attention for sure.
Unrelated, after reading and the comments discussions about camping food I have a new hyperfocus on using my food dehydrator and blender to try all kinds of recipes. I haven't taken them camping yet and will report back when I do. I even bought new silicone dehydrator trays for fruit leather (etc) — no more relying on liners that can shift and spill things.