1/29/2009

Have we met?

One of the cool things about blogs is all the visitors you get from all over the world. I'd appreciate it if you could take a few minutes to introduce yourself. Copy and paste the questions below into the comments page located here and type away.

> How long have you been birding?
> How often do you go birding?
> What are your favorite birds?
> What's your rarest bird?
> Where did you see your rare bird?
> What bird would you love to see?
> What's your favorite spot for birding?
> Do you keep a life list?
> How many birds on your list?
> Do you keep a garden list of birds?
> How many birds on your list?
> What's the nicest garden bird you've seen?
> What birds nest in your garden?
> Do you have any owls in your garden?
> Any more info you'd like to share?

4 comments:

Patrick Belardo said...

Oh I love these silly questionnaires...
> How long have you been birding?
I've been a "hardcore" birder for about 8 years. I was a backyard birder for some time and had a stint of birding as a kid for a few years.

> How often do you go birding?
Not often enough - every other week at best.

> What are your favorite birds?
Hummingbirds and raptors

> What's your rarest bird?
Hmm... always a tough question. I'll stick with NJ and say the Green Violet-ear that I saw in 2005. Only state record and it was here less than a day.

> Where did you see your rare bird?
NJ

> What bird would you love to see?
So many... Lammergeier

> What's your favorite spot for birding?
Sandy Hook

> Do you keep a life list?
Yep

> How many birds on your list?
835+ for the world

> Do you keep a garden list of birds?
Yes.

> How many birds on your list?
55 I think

> What's the nicest garden bird you've seen?
Swainson's Thrush

> What birds nest in your garden?
LOL, living in condo land, the best I get is a Song Sparrow.

> Do you have any owls in your garden?
No way.

> Any more info you'd like to share?
I like birds.

Owlman said...

Hi Patrick,

Hmm, I never knew Lammergeier was at the top of your must see list. I have an awesome spot for them - it's 18 hours by plane though ;-)

Namib Naturalist said...

> How long have you been birding? Since I was two (I have a confirmed pointed out sighting in my own made up word for a bird) Listing since Oct 1995.

> How often do you go birding?
Two or three times a week.
Sometimes daily if I am working.

> What are your favorite birds? One of the most amazing I have seen is Pel's Fishing Owl, fishing on the panhandle in Botswana. Now it must be Damara Terns, having helped survey for them and concerned about their protection.

> What's your rarest bird? Wilson's Phalarope. It only showed up here last in 2000 (at Walvis Bay) I think one made it to South Africa this year.

> Where did you see your rare bird? Walvis Bay Lagoon.

> What bird would you love to see? Western Banded Snake Eagle. I have 'just missed it' and 'it's been flying over here daily'--ing for long time.

> What's your favorite spot for birding? That's tough. In a way, Namib Rand Nature Reserve, because I knew the birds so well. I would love to go anywhere in the east of southern Africa. I love the panhandle and the delta and always bird frantically when there. The mile 4 salt works is my closest spot, where I go to all the time.
> Do you keep a life list?
> How many birds on your list? 630 something. (554 in southern Africa - see Zest For Birds, heading for 700, my name is Vernon Swanepoel)

> Do you keep a garden list of birds? Not yet, but may do.

> How many birds on your list?

> What's the nicest garden bird you've seen? Common Waxbill

> What birds nest in your garden? Cape Sparrows, stuff like that. I lived for over 6 years on NamibRand Nature Reserve, and had a sociable weaver's nest in the garden. That's something special.

> Do you have any owls in your garden? No, haven't seen any.

> Any more info you'd like to share? I love your approach. Nice blog.

Owlman said...

Hi Vernon, Pel's Fishing Owl - WOW. One of my childhood friends is based in Kruger Park right by the Pel's Fishing Owls and I would kill to see one.

You are in a GREAT spot for birding. I only did birding in SA and then a tiny bit in Zim. We pased through a piece of Zambia but I was too busy watching the potholes to be birding ;-). I'd love to do birding in Namibia and even Mozambique some day.

Thanks for popping in and taking the time to introduce yourself. Good birding!

Incredible photos shared by the Flickr community group - Owls of North America. Click on the play button to begin the slideshow - ENJOY!