Tips for enjoyable birdwatching

With so many birders hoping to see a birdie they’ve never eyeballed before, it’s not surprising to see heaps of write-ups about birding. Birdwatchers, both avid and novice, clamouring for the latest tools and tips to get the best bird watching experience is the norm. Most of them end up disappointed, but our top 6 tips from for getting the most out of your birdie ogling experience won’t let you down.

Get Up-close

Many birders spend most of their birdwatching time in poor locations. Some folks have the advantage of relaxing on the porch, observing nature’s best. Others need to go out and about. We recommend visiting top birdwatching destinations in Australia – they never cease to amaze.

Also, check out http://www.australianwildlifejourneys.com/wildlife-interest/birds for birdwatching opportunities in Australia or the full Australian Wildlife Journeys website for other wildlife spotting activities.

Real Expectations

Know what species to expect. In Australia, there are 828 native bird species and recognising each of them is almost impossible. So when you tour an area, do a little research. You may realise that only a few species inhabit that area. With a little preparation, you’ll be able to readily identify different birdies. Keep a list of viewed species.

Long Sighted

Spending hours and dollars to get to the right spot can be totally wasted if your binoculars run short. Cheap binoculars aren’t good buys. You’ll not get the best out of your viewing. Modern-day technologies provide essential benefits in birdwatching.

For instance, image stabilisation will keep your view stable, which is great for distant viewing. Other cool features include low-light viewing, wide-view and anti-fogging. Additionally, binoculars with inbuilt digital cameras let you identify birds when you get home. Such benefits will enhance your birdwatching. Turn a mediocre experience into a magnificent one with a great pair of “binocs”.

Practice Makes…

A key to viewing birds is having the ability to quickly put your binocs on target. Most birders have difficulty tracking a bird in flight or focusing on a birdie in a bush. Practising prior to your outing improves your reflexes and view speed. Try this before you set out: lower your binoculars and quickly raise them to locate and follow a jetliner across the sky. After several attempts, you’ll get good at acquiring a target fast. Quite often, birds appear and vanish instantly. So practice becoming proficient.

Tag-Along

Take someone with you, as life’s always better when shared. You get to spend quality time outdoors with someone you like and they might alert you to “A Sight To Behold”. Share your birding experience with family and friends. Pass the birding buzz to a child.

Read On

Birdwatching articles and magazines are abundant. But reading mainstream publications isn’t all. You’ll miss out on some incredible content. Personal birding blogs, like this one, are a birder’s favourite. Some are funny. Others are brilliant at educating enthusiasts about different species. Not forgetting those that write about bird conservation.

As a birder, you control nearly every aspect of your excursion. The more you’re prepared, the more exciting your experience will be. Use this guide and you’ll enjoy every minute in our backcountry.

Follow our guide on how to start birdwatching

Birdwatching is both a wonderfully fascinating hobby and one that requires minimal investment meaning that it is very easy to get started. Whilst it is possible to get started with no equipment at all, if you are to fully enjoy the experience it is advisable to consider investing in both a field guide to help you identify the various birds that you see, and also a pair of binoculars to enable you to get a better view of what you find. We have more tips for enjoyable birdwatching in Australia.

One other piece of kit worth considering is a small notebook and pen to enable you to keep recordings of the species that you see, how you identified them, where they were seen and so on. This nature journal can become a vital guide after some time as your notes will help you to learn more and more about the birds around you.

Once you have your kit in hand, it is simply a matter of going looking for some birds and this can be as easy or as difficult as you want to make it.

Some people like to start off simply by putting some bird feeders into their garden stocked with peanuts, sunflower seeds, bread and so on and to simply sit at a window to see what arrives. Appreciate that it may take a few days or even weeks for the local birds to discover the food you have put out so you will need to be patient, but soon enough you should start seeing a variety of species from the comfort of your own home.

Or you may choose instead to get out in the great outdoors. Virtually any habitat will have some birds in from woodland to city parks. However one of the best places to see birds is to track down some wetland. Wetland is habitat found near a beach where all the mud makes it a perfect place for a variety of worms and insects, which in turn attract a wide variety of birds.

The key to success with birdwatching is really that of field craft. Try to wear muted colours if possible so you don’t stand out too much in the countryside, and be willing to sit still for periods of time to enable the local birds to become comfortable with your presence and commence their normal daily comings and goings.