Birding Summary, Featured

Birding with Bexar Audubon at Walker Ranch Park

This morning brought an opportunity to go birding with the Bexar Audubon Society at Walker Ranch Park. Upon my arrival at the park, I was surprised to see a group of 13 other birds gathered there for the Audubon Walk. I walked up and introduced myself to everyone. When I was asked if I was from the media (due to the microphone I was carrying), I responded that I am here to capture some bird songs!

denman park

Birding Summary

A Lunchtime Birding Trip around Denman Park

Inspired to go check out a local park over lunch, I fired up eBird.org to look for a local birding hotspot. Denman Park popped up as a good place to go check out birds. Around 150 species have been spotted there over time, so I figured it must have some good trees and water for the local birds. The entrance to Denman Park is on the appropriately-named Mockingbird Lane. The park is situated in the middle of a densely forested neighborhood and includes a pond, a Korean monument, and various wooded walking trails.

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Birding Summary, Education, Featured

My first time recording birds with a shotgun microphone

Microphone. Power supply. Shock mount. Windscreen. Pistol grip. XLR cable. Headphones. Recorder. Bird. All of these things work together to capture a bird song. Following the Audubon’s Guide to Recording Bird Song, I scoured the internet to put together my own secondhand bird recording kit.

mitchell lake pond

Birding Summary, Education, Featured

Transitioning from Photographing to Recording Birds

I’ve been photographing birds for years as a way to document what I see and to satisfy creative endeavors. If a picture is worth a thousand words then a sound may be worth ten-thousand. When you go birding, you often hear a bird before you see it, if you see it at all. To go from being a good to a great birder, the ability to pick up and identify birds by their song or call is critical.

Birding Summary, Featured

Big Move to the Lone Star State and Meeting the Neighborhood Birds

This past year has been a whirlwind of hustle as I worked to finish up the last two years of my bachelor’s degree. After just over a year at UC Irvine, I finished my schooling and set my sights on what comes next: rejoining the workforce. Just as I was wrapping up my final quarter of school, Mubark landed a job offer in San Antonio, Texas. We tied up all of our loose ends in California, sold all of our bulky items, and hit the road toward the lone star state with anything we could cram into our cars.

Birding Summary, Featured, Main Feed, Science

Counting Brown Pelicans with Audubon California

This past weekend brought many organized birding events to the city of Los Angeles. Audubon chapters from around LA coordinated the second annual Bird Day LA: a slew of bird/nature walks, photography classes, and a bar meet-up, all aimed to get the public excited about bird watching, nature, and conservation. Coincidentally, Audubon California decided to hold the first-ever Brown Pelican Survey on the same day. Due to my hectic school and work schedule, I decided to focus my time on attending this important bird count.