Page 19 - Sonoma County Gazette 6-20

BIRDING cont’d from page 18
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Thankfully, there are many helpful birder sleuth apps one can use to become a master birder. My personal favorite free app is Merlin from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/
Using Merlin, you can input the date, location, size, coloring, and behavior and presto! you have a list of possible birds. You can also use one of your photos to ID your bird. You can even use
the app offline, meaning you are not dependent on wifi or cell service, a huge bonus when this shelter in place order is lifted and we are all back at our favorite beach or hiking in the mountains.
eBird is for the serious
citizen scientists looking
to capture real data
and share it with the
professional birding community: “eBird is the world’s largest biodiversity- related citizen science project, with more than 100 million bird sightings contributed each year by eBirders around the world.” https://ebird.org/home
This is also a great site on which to upload your data if you have only an audio file of a songbird, with no visual ID. Check out the April eBirder Challenge of the Month. For the kids in the house, check out their K-12 educational material resources.
Alternatively, if you have a photo, but no clue what type of bird you’ve captured, upload your picture to iNaturalist. This huge naturalist community will help you to ID any unknown species of plant, animal, fungi, or bird. This is a great resource!
If you’re already an avid birder, test yourself with this great Birding
Quiz. Want something to listen to as you sit by your window with a pair of binoculars? Check out these great birding podcasts from Audubon.
As you can see, birding can be for everyone!
Go birding to enjoy what little nature we have to enjoy these days - your backyard. Become a birder to photograph them, or to listen to their beautiful songs, or to contribute to science, or to build a new birding community, or for the mystery and challenge of it.
Forest Therapy has been shown to improve health
Become a birder to observe the interconnectivity of nature, how birds relate to the plants and animals around us. Any reason is the best reason. Join me, enjoy the marvelous world of birds and share your observations from your own backyard!
and well-being. Have you heard about Shinrin-yoku or Forest Bathing? Here is an opportunity to take a walk and experience the practice for yourself. Learn techniques to maximize the health benefits and stress reducing qualities of this walking practice.
Shinrin-yoku originated in Japan and is gaining popularity in the United States for its documented Health benefits. This practice takes a walk in the woods to another level. A centering and calming restorative practice, it promotes balance and restored vitality through a quality of presence and heightened sensory awareness.
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Sugarloaf Ridge State Park hosts a Forest Therapy Series as part of its ParksRx Program the 4th Saturday of each month. These walks are led by certified ANFT (Association of Nature and Forest Therapy) practitioners. See http://www.natureandforesttherapy.org/ for more info about this practice.
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