Simply Bird Photos/Happy New Year

 Welcome back.  Here's to a great 2021!  Happy New Year Everyone!

Blue Jay

Juvenile Female Northern Cardinal

Northern Cardinal

Black-Capped Chickadee

Mourning Doves

Cedar Waxwing

Seed Catalogs Are Arriving/Winter Bird Photos

Welcome back.  Although I have been posting mostly about birdwatching over the last month or so, gardening is always on my mind even during the winter months.  I'm always thinking ahead to the next season in regards to which varieties to try, etc.  With the snowstorm this past week, which gave us a 30 inch snowfall, Spring seems so far away.

Over the the last few weeks I have been receiving seed catalogs.  They seem to come earlier each year.  Although I buy most of my seeds locally, sometimes I order from the catalogs especially if I want to try a specific variety that catches my eye.  I will cover each catalog that I  have received to date, and highlight one variety from each.

The first catalog I received is Totally Tomatoes.  How appropriate for me, as I love to grow tomatoes, especially heirlooms.  If you are a tomato and/or pepper lover, this catalog is for you.

One new variety they are offering is Belle of the Ball tomato.  This one is an heirloom hybrid (from two French heirlooms), which is an interesting concept in itself.  In recent years I tend to stray away from hybrids, which were bred to produce uniformly sized, perfectly shaped fruits for mass sale.  But in the process some flavor was lost.  The heirlooms offer the best flavor, however they also are sometimes oddly shaped, etc.

Therefore a hybrid of 2 heirloom varieties is a great idea to blend the best with the best.

The next catalog I received is Seeds 'nSuch. They have a good selection of veggie and flower seeds.  

Keeping with the tomato theme, I will highlight a variety called Mountain Merit Hybrid.  You may be wondering why I am mentioning a hybrid tomato after just touting the advantages of the heirlooms.  

If you have had problems with tomato blight (early and late), this tomato may be for you.  This one has resistance to blight.  There are other "Mountain" varieties with blight resistance as well so you can choose which variety you would like.  I have had problems with blight for years, although I still manage to get a decent tomato harvest.  I try to to rotate where I plant each year which helps somewhat.  It is also important to dispose of vegetation instead of tilling into the soil in the Fall.  Also, applying a copper fungicide (spray) to your plants several times during the season can help.

The third catalog I have received is Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds  This all inclusive catalog comes in at 162 pages and is more like a book.  

They offer some rare and interesting heirloom tomatoes.  One extremely rare variety is Thorburn's Terra Cotta from 1893.  It is very unusual looking, but  the flavor is described as "out of this world".  It is a prolific producer as well.

Thorburn's Terra Cotta

This catalog is worth taking a look at, you can request a free copy.

I am looking forward to receiving more catalogs in the coming weeks. I will share them with you as I do.  Although it is too early to start seeds, the following is a link if you are interested in purchasing seed starting supplies .  The time will be here before we know it! 

I will leave you with some recent bird photos.  Enjoy.  Thanks for reading.

 

Mourning Doves

 

Red-Bellied Woodpecker and Dark-Eyed Junco

European Starling

  

 

    

Using eBird/Bird Photos

Welcome back.  If you follow my blog you will know that I have covered in detail several bird counting opportunities, including Project FeederWatch, and the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC).  In this post I will introduce eBird, which is also managed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

As you may know, both Project FeederWatch and GBBC limit your bird counts as they are for specific periods of time.  Project FeederWatch runs from mid-November to early April each year, and participants can only count for 2 consecutive days each week.  The GBBC takes place each February and involves counting birds for 4 consecutive days.  What if you are an avid birder and want to count every day even in different locations?  Enter eBird.

Perhaps the best way to introduce eBird is through the following video:

As the video mentions, data can be entered either via the website or using the mobile app.  Photos and even audio recordings can also be entered.

From the eBird website:

eBird began with a simple idea—that every birdwatcher has unique knowledge and experience. Our goal is to gather this information in the form of checklists of birds, archive it, and freely share it to power new data-driven approaches to science, conservation and education. At the same time, we develop tools that make birding more rewarding. From being able to manage lists, photos and audio recordings, to seeing real-time maps of species distribution, to alerts that let you know when species have been seen, we strive to provide the most current and useful information to the birding community.

eBird data document bird distribution, abundance, habitat use, and trends through checklist data collected within a simple, scientific framework. Birders enter when, where, and how they went birding, and then fill out a checklist of all the birds seen and heard during the outing. eBird’s free mobile app allows offline data collection anywhere in the world, and the website provides many ways to explore and summarize your data and other observations from the global eBird community.

So for those of you who want to participate beyond Project FeederWatch, eBird is for you.

Regarding bird photography,  you may wonder what camera I am using.  I currently use a Nikon Coolpix L830.  It has a 34X zoom and is mainly a point and shoot camera, although it does also have manual modes.  This is an older model that I bought used.  It is a good camera for those on a budget.  For your convenience here is a link if you are interested in purchasing a Nikon Coolpix camera; there are new and used ones listed.

Finally, some photos for your enjoyment.

American Goldfinch

Northern Cardinal, House Sparrow

Downy Woodpecker

Until next time.