Do you think bird watching is just identifying and checking birds off a list? Start looking at birds' behaviors, interactions, and interdependence with the environment. Start a field journal. It will turn you into a naturalist. A great book to help encourage you to become a naturalist is Crow Planet, by Lyanda Lynn Haupt. The book is partly about corvids (Crows, Ravens, Jays, Magpies), but the theme running through it is that you can be a naturalist. David Sedaris called this book, "A completely charming and informative book on the pleasures of keeping your eyes open."
"But the only bird I can recognize is a Crow!"
Crow at Port Townsend
If you want to be an amateur biologist or naturalist, then you've got to start observing and recording, no matter if the only bird you can recognize is a crow. If that is so, then look at crows! They're interesting.
Crows at a garbage dumpster in Alaska
Journaling to Remember
I suggest carrying a small notebook and mechanical pencil with you. I carry a notebook that allows me to write on rain-resistant paper. Have an expectation that you may see some wonderful episode of nature unfolding. Be ready to write what you see, because our memories are far from perfect.
For example, in this picture, below, I took notes on a curious interaction. This occurred in the raptor center in Sitka, Alaska, two years ago. The raven behind the fence, in the cage, was doing the solicitation gesture (vibrating the wings) for the wild, larger raven outside the cage. It was also trying to push the piece of meat through the wire screen to its wild, potential friend. This was in the spring, at the height of mating season, which may explain the behavior. If I hadn't written these notes in my handy notebook, I probably would have forgotten some of the details of the encounter, by now.
Captive Common Raven (behind screen) attempting to feed a wild Common Raven (on near side of screen). Corvids are sociable and intelligent.
Sketching to Remember
My field journals are full of sketches and cartoons that quickly remind me of the action I am seeing. For me, at least this is a better mnemonic than writing. Sibley, whose field guides on birds are exceptional, suggests that we make quick sketches on how different birds fly. For example, if I wish to show that the raven, below, is soaring and not flapping its wings, I will write CORA (Common Raven) with an arrow and a direction indicator (like NE) and a diagonal line, /, across the arrow to symbolize outstretched wings and soaring. Later, I can add words in my field notes.
Above: Raven in flight
Invent a Shorthand
Things happen fast in nature... too fast for writing in sentences. Having a shorthand helps. For the Merlin Project, described in the October 15th blog, all my field notes are standardized to conform to the chief researcher's codes. This is a Merlin observation in code. Your notebooks don't need to look like this!
Below:
For my personal field journals, I've developed my own, more casual 'short hand'. It is based on the 5 Ws of journalism: Who/What/Where/When/Why? Here's an example:
Above:
This tells me that eight American Crows (AMCR) mobbed a Red-tailed Hawk (RTHA) and drove it from a Red Cedar, about 200 meters to a Cottonwood, and from there, out of sight (OOS). This happened at dusk, behind my house. It probably happened because the Red-tail was perched in the flight path of the crows as they flew to their evening roost and because crows mob raptors that may pose a threat. Notice, my field notes are based on the 5 Ws: Who is involved?; What's happening?; Where did it happen?; When did it happen?; Why might it have happened? ('Why?' leads to your best guess based on observation... an hypothesis.)
I suggest that you develop your own shorthand. After a while, you will start to see patterns of behavior and get a deeper understanding and appreciation of your bioregion.
If you show as much curiosity as a Common Raven or an American Crow and you regularly take notes in the notebook you always carry with you, nature will reward you with new insights.
