Natural History Wanderings

In the last year or so I have working on learning to bird  by ear. Although the skill is slow to develop it has been rewarding. As it often helps me find and identify birds when in the field, especially perching birds. What has been most helpful is the structure of classes. I have taken birding by ear classes through Golden Gate Audubon taught by Denise Wight as well as a week class at the SF State Sierra Nevada Field Campus.  If birding by ear interests you check out the short article by Denise on the Golden Gate Audubon blog: Birding by ear for beginners | Golden Gate Audubon Society.

Denise’s website also has a number of resources: Denise Wight’s Birding Pages.

Two resources I have found helpful are:

Bird Songs Of California ( a three CD set of bird songs by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology)

Birdtunes a series of apps for iPad, iPhone or iTouch. (There is even a free version you might start with)