Bird Watching in Arizona
The place is also perfect if you want to see rare kinds of birds such as seasonal species of kingbirds, chickadees, becards, gnatcatchers, titmouses, sparrows, tanagers, and warblers.
If you are planning to go bird watching in Arizona, always make sure that you visit the Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve which houses almost 300 different species of birds. If you want, you can make a schedule online and avail of the guided tours on Saturday mornings. The preserve has almost 3-mile long trail that gives you a breathtaking beauty of nature along with various species of birds nearby.
Things you need before you go bird watching in Arizona
In the United States, Arizona is one of the best places for bird watching because it has hot type of climate, which invites a vast species of birds. Because of the number of birds seen in the place, birding has become a source for recreation and tourism.
Before you get captivated its wonderful bird life and its breathtaking landscape in this side of the state, make sure that you prepare very well the things that you might need. If you are planning to conduct bird watching in Arizona, make sure that you bring:
- Bring a bird watching guide. This is very important especially for first-time watchers because this will serve as a reference for you. The guide usually contains basic information about the place or the preserve, list of birds that are usually seen in the area, brief characteristic of common birds that can be seen in the area and tips for the first-time watchers.
- A good pair of bird watching binoculars. Although some centers provide binoculars for the viewers, it is best if you bring your own pair. This is to ensure that you will use a good pair of binoculars when coming to Arizona for bird watching. If you're planning to buy a pair of binoculars before going there, make sure that you buy a pair that has good magnification, clear lens and focus, and good exit diameter.
- High SPF bottle of sunscreen. Since Arizona has hot weather, it is best to protect your skin especially from sunburns. In Preservation centers, you are usually asked to go on a trail that has no shade. If you want to protect your skin against too much ultraviolet rays, it is quite important to apply lots of sunscreen with high SPF.
- A notebook with pen. This is a good option especially if you want to record your observations about the birds. When you have a handy notebook and pen, you can easily jot down the characteristics of the bird and other notes about the Center easily. (TIP: Choose a notebook with plastic cover so you can protect your notes from getting wet.)
- A big bottle of water. To keep you well hydrated during bird watching in Arizona, it is best to keep a bottle of water with you at all times. Having a handy source of liquid at hand is very crucial especially if stay out in the sun for a long time in a place with hot weather.
Bird Watching in Big Bend
Big Bend National Park is located in the Southwest corner of Texas. It is halfway between El Paso and Laredo while the Rio Grande swings southward to form a huge bend which marks the southern boundary of this national reserve. All in all, it is 1200 square miles of Chihuahuan Desert and mountain grandeur.
This makes it an excellent habitat for more than 450 species of birds, 75 species of mammals and 70 species of amphibians and reptiles. When the weather gets cold, most birds use this as a migratory flyway so you will get to see some birds that are only here once or twice a year.
Some of the birds you can encounter at the Big Bend National Park include the Band-tailed Pigeon, Black-chinned Sparrow, Colima Warbler, Crissal Thrasher, Elf Owl, Flammulated Owl, Green Kingfisher, Lucifer Hummingbird, Mexican Jay and the Pyrrhuloxia.
This is also the only place in the US that you will see the Mexican long Nosed Bat that is listed as an endangered species.
Given the parks size, there are a lot of excellent bird watching spots to check out. You can go to the Rio Grande Village, the Cottonwood campgrounds, the Chisos Basin and the Hot Springs to see the colorful golden fronted woodpecker or the Colima warbler.
Another ideal spot is the Ojito Adentro that is found on wayside stop #4. While you are walking, you can hear the Bell’s Vireo singing especially during early March and September. In the Spring, you will encounter the Blue Grossbeak, Canyon Bewick, Summer Tanager, Vermillion Flycatcher and the Zone tailed hawk.
Some bird species that drop by for a visit during certain months of the year include the acorn woodpeckers, ash-throated flycatchers, black-chinned and broad-tailed hummingbirds, cactus and canyon wrens, greater roadrunners, lesser nighthawks, loggerhead shrikes, northern flickers, scaled quail, Scott's orioles, spotted sandpipers, tufted titmice, bushtits, western wood-pewees, white-throated swifts, white-winged doves and Wilson's warblers.
The mammals you could see at the Big Bend National Park include the desert cottontails, black-tailed jackrabbits, rock squirrels, Texas antelope squirrels, Merriam's kangaroo rats, coyotes, gray foxes, raccoons, striped skunks, mule deer, and white-tailed deer.
You should be careful when you go bird watching at the National Park. There are also a few poisonous snakes like the diamondback, the Mojave, the black tailed rattlesnake and the trans-pecos copperhead. There have also been reported sightings of Mountain Lions and Black Bears. Since the Park was opened to the public, there have only been 4 attacks on humans.
The Big Bend National Park is open all year round. More than 300,000 visitors come here annually so pack along your gear and head out for some bird watching at the Big Bend. You can camp here for a few days and even get some snapshots which you can add to your collection back home.
So you don’t get lost, you can get a Ranger to guide you around, join a nature seminar and a host of other activities that are offered at the park.
Best Bird Watching Optics, How to Find One
The Idea
If you are interested to know how a person start to become an avid bird watcher, first, they have the love for nature and curiosity about birds that they would go out of their way to be able to see some and then see some more until the hobby becomes passion.
A person can start on his own backyard, observing the birds that fly through their vicinity. Then they could start feeding the birds so that the latter would stay longer within near distance. The idea of birdfeeders and bird baths start from this same cycle. To protect the welfare of the birds, trees are planted as well as shrubs and also provide for nesting areas.
Not hooked yet? You can also watch the birds near you, whether on the road or a busy street. Just be mindful of your own safety when performing such task.
The optics
Now that you already have the habit, you can look into the available optics in the market to see the birds more clearly and to make your observation gearing towards the scientific route.
Binoculars are usually the first gear that birders invest on. The more expensive ones, of course, are better. Usually those come with thicker glass, better vision, coatings, precise configuration and alignment and easy to navigate controls.
Although with so many types available in the market these days, you might find yourself confused about what can be a good purchase. If trapped in this dilemma, all you got to do is ask. Ask the people who've already been doing the hobby for longer periods than you do or if you can't find somebody, search the Web. The Web actually has all the information you need to know about birding and bird watching and the gears and optics that you must have in order to become successful with the venture.
Look closely at the features of the binocular before purchasing one. Choose the right weight by holding such. Remember that when you already have to such it, you have to hold it most of the time for it to serve its function. Also, try to see through it when you are still in the store to know if it is the perfect fit for your eyes. Look at the lenses closely, navigate through the control. You could also ask what are the accessories available to see your options. This way, birding would be much easier and fun now that you have a gadget with you.
The scopes are for the advanced users. This is bought along with a tripod. The idea for the proper placing of such develops the more frequent you use it. The lenses would be your utmost concern when it comes to this. Inspect those before you buy one.
There's a lot of other optics available that you could try once you've mastered the use of binoculars and scopes. It varies from night vision, infrared, illuminating appeal, tools to photograph or record the observation on video among many other choices.
The best bird watching optics is there to help you find the right view, the right angle. When you are already geared up with such, all you need to be mindful about is where you could find the right spot.
Bird Watching Scopes - Find Out More with Clearer Vision
For a person who loves observing the birds, a scope would be very beneficial especially if you've already mastered the use of binoculars and is now ready to take the activity to another level.
The Binoculars
This is the first gadget that is actually being invested upon by the bird watchers and the birders. They look closely into the product to determine what could best work for them. This becomes more of their best friend as time goes by. This actually serves the purpose of seeing the birds more clearly.
The accessories for such also become varied through time. The comfort of the user is considered with the weight, eye cups, different lenses and corresponding elements that could make the work easier for its user.
Spotting Scopes
For the birders, it is important to be at the right place at the right time. They are always on the lookout for something new. They want to add on to what they already knew. And the most important thing is that they want to strengthen their claims and prove their observations as gearing towards the scientific explanation.
Knowing where exactly to go is developed through time. The expertise in anything you do in life is actually honed by practice. The same thing is true for birders. They have the passion for what they do. They have tried and tested different techniques through time to be able to gather more data.
Although these people still rely on the old binoculars, they also invest on spotting scopes. This tool helps them to see more from what they've already seen through their binoculars. Because they have the passion for the activity and they have a reason for doing such, they are more geared to look for better technology to help then with their research.
Choosing the right spotting scope is important. As a beginner, you need to ask around what brand is more popular and why. And you also need to be informed about what are the things that you should be looking for when purchasing one.
The quality and design should be your first concern when looking for the right one. Ask about the lenses and the optics design. You need to have the most clear and the one that feels appropriate for your eyes because as a birder, you are looking for more data about the birds that you are observing. You are always on the lookout to find out more from what data is already available. So the view that you would get from scopes is vital for your study to be more scientific.
The spotting scopes works best with a tripod. Look for one that is sturdy and easy to control. It should hold up your scope the right way, can navigate through all the directions and can also be slanted on different angles.
Then focus more about the lenses. You need to find the ones that could stand all weather conditions. As a birder, you go to different places not really minding the climate on that weather but only have the birds in your mind as top priority. For this reason, you need to have the lenses that could guide you through the process easily and won't let you down even at most desperate weather conditions.
Bird watching scopes are there to help you. You just have to find that right one that could suit you best in order to start using such to your advantage.
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