The Changing Landscape

I recently enjoyed one of the last warm days before the autumn chill really kicks in by going birding at Barry Park in Syracuse, NY.  The park was full of people enjoying the changing season -- it was also full of birds!

The first birds I spotted were the ducks and geese on the pond.  Then I saw an entire flock of starlings gathered in bushes near the pond and taking short trips to the edge to drink some water. I wondered if they were preparing for migration.  By this point I had the choice of taking a wooded path, or staying along the edge of the pond.  Since I was feeling adventurous I headed toward the trees.  Robins were foraging in the brush, and there was a pair of cardinals chasing each other.  As I emerged from the trees I saw a Belted King Fisher fly overhead and land on a naked branch over the water.  As I was watching the King Fisher surveying his kingdom I heard a chip.

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)

Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)

House Sparrow(Passer domesticus)

American Robin (Turdus migratorius)

 Photos courtesy of D. A. Saunders

Up to this point I had felt pretty good about my birding skills. I hadn’t needed to open my Sibley’s Guide once, but now I was stumped.  Pretty quickly I was able to spot the LBB (Little Brown Bird) but had no idea what it was.  By checking the field markings in the guide I could tell it was a sparrow, but I still was not 100% sure of which sparrow it was.  “If only I could hear the songs!” I lamented, since this little bird had not stopped calling once since I found it.

Then I remembered that I had the answer right in my pocket; my cell phone!  I recently downloaded the Sibley’s Bird App and I really love this app!  It has a setting that it will only show you birds you will see in your area, so I don’t need to worry about spending a lot of time deciding on a bird only to realize that according to its range map it lives primarily on the west coast.  The app still contains all the great illustrations and information the hard copy has, but it also includes the bird calls and songs. After listening to the songs I was sure this was the Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia).

I know many people would have been horrified if I pulled my phone out of my pocket during a bird walk, but I think we need to realize that just as the landscape around us is always changing, so is technology.  This app is just one example of technology that can help me feel more connected to the nature around me.  Now I vividly remember the triumph of identifying the Song Sparrow on my own, and not needing to remember details when I tried looking it up later.  I also could have visited the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s website and explored all the bird song recordings they have there to see if there is a regional dialect for Song Sparrows like there is for people.   

Did you know that birds from different places have different calls?  Sometimes humans can hear the differences, but sometimes only other birds can.  There is a great article about this phenomenon from the Stanford University, check itout to learn more about bird dialects.

The next time you are near the beaver pond in the Griffith’s Flat area use the Sibley’s app to identify the many birds found there!

What apps do you like to use when out exploring nature? 


Blog post by Katie Mulverhill