Sometimes in the wild, it is easy to just let nature pass in front of you rather than expending energy traipsing through the woods to find it. Over the years, perhaps because I have gotten older and lazier( I prefer to think wiser), I have found that waiting frequently gets more results than searching. If you want to see a variety of birds in your backyard, for example, the best way is to put out a variety of feeders with a variety of food, and soon you can sit in the shade with your favorite drink and watch as the various species parade by for your perusal.
In the wild, it is a little different, but the concept is still the same. Find food and you will find the birds. Of course, knowing what the birds eat and where the food is helps!! At The Field, where I go frequently to see and photograph birds, the farmer has made it pretty easy. He plants crops that the critters like, but has also protected and nourished a variety of natural plants and trees that provide varied food sources over the seasons. Of course the oak, pecan, walnut, and pines provide a variety of nuts. Along the field edges, there are mulberries, blackberries, apples, wild cherries, pokeberries, plums, and many more provide food as well as shelter. The fields themselves are loaded with insects, so you can be guaranteed of a great variety of birds being present most any time you visit.
But it can also help if you know the timing of the ripening of the various crops, nuts, and berries. Most of our beautiful songbirds are both insect and fruit eaters, so if you can know when a particular food source is ripe, then if you just make yourself available and be quiet and still in the vicinity, with a little patience you will surely see many of the variety of species in the area.
This morning, I visited The Field for just a little over an hour. I knew the wild cherries on the south edge were getting ripe, so I headed there, where I parked about 40 yards away and sat in my car and waited. Almost immediately a small flock of Orchard Orioles drifted in on the back side of the tree and began working their way toward me. Next was a male Blue Grosbeak who landed up high and surveyed the situation before getting down to business. I was there for the hour, then drove away to a morning meeting. See below the visitors that came by-----
In the wild, it is a little different, but the concept is still the same. Find food and you will find the birds. Of course, knowing what the birds eat and where the food is helps!! At The Field, where I go frequently to see and photograph birds, the farmer has made it pretty easy. He plants crops that the critters like, but has also protected and nourished a variety of natural plants and trees that provide varied food sources over the seasons. Of course the oak, pecan, walnut, and pines provide a variety of nuts. Along the field edges, there are mulberries, blackberries, apples, wild cherries, pokeberries, plums, and many more provide food as well as shelter. The fields themselves are loaded with insects, so you can be guaranteed of a great variety of birds being present most any time you visit.
But it can also help if you know the timing of the ripening of the various crops, nuts, and berries. Most of our beautiful songbirds are both insect and fruit eaters, so if you can know when a particular food source is ripe, then if you just make yourself available and be quiet and still in the vicinity, with a little patience you will surely see many of the variety of species in the area.
This morning, I visited The Field for just a little over an hour. I knew the wild cherries on the south edge were getting ripe, so I headed there, where I parked about 40 yards away and sat in my car and waited. Almost immediately a small flock of Orchard Orioles drifted in on the back side of the tree and began working their way toward me. Next was a male Blue Grosbeak who landed up high and surveyed the situation before getting down to business. I was there for the hour, then drove away to a morning meeting. See below the visitors that came by-----
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