No, I'm not a birder, although I recognize our cardinal when he arrives. ;-) Great voice, and he is definitely not a sparrow. That's about as far as I've got. I also recognize robin-song, that infinite variety, such virtuosos they are.

I have some mad birder friends and I am tempted to join them. What got you going?

The female, of course, is obviously the more discreet and quietly sophisticated of the species.

I haven't gone birding-- binoculars in hand, field guides in an army surplus belt pouch-- for a long time, but I always pay attention when I'm out and about.

I find that there's a magical day, usually in April here, when we get a warm blast out of the south that brings up migratory birds, and you can see them more easily because the leaves aren't out on the trees, and the mosquitos aren't a factor. Good conditions for warbler sightings.

Now it's a bit late for that. The foliage is mature.

It's been a while, but I was getting to the point where I could identify species by their call, and common ones by their style of flight.

My favorite place to go birding is the eastern dead end of Windemere Road here in London. (heck, give me a woodlot, and it's my favorite place...)

There's a natural park there that is bounded by the North Branch of the Thames on one side. The rest is wood lot, and abandoned farm fields. This makes for a lot of transition zones-- woodlot to meadow, woodlot to river or pond, and meadow to river or ponds. This makes for a lot of habitat in a relatively small area.

If you can get up before sunrise and move slowly and quietly westward through these different zones as the sun rises, the birds won't even know you are there. They don't like looking directly into the sun anymore than we do.

Ack.