Welcome back for the last segment of our free e-course. We hope you’ve enjoyed the journey so far.
In this last section, we’ll share a few key tools for honing your skills as you continue forward with learning bird language.
When you have spent some good time at your sit spot, patterns begin to emerge that you may not have been present to earlier in the game.
Observation, mapping and journal keeping all help the patterns of the birds and bird language events to form into a larger picture of activity in your awareness. This is a perspective that takes time to develop.
Routines for Success. . .
The tools that we have shared in this course are meant to be used as routines. Keep going to your sit spot, keep looking for tracks and animal sign, and keep your journals and questions about the landscape developing and growing over time.
1) Territory Mapping
Springtime is a great time to observe the patterns of local birds, but you can also use this exercise any time of the year. We call this “territory mapping,” and it’s a great window into the lives of the birds.
Watch your spot and notice how activity patterns start to shift as the spring arrives. Songs may increase dramatically and fill the air. Certain perches begin to be favored and used in a routine way more and more.
Pick one bird species and try to outline the territory by the use of regular perches and feeding areas. Note any nest-building activity and territorial aggression.
Over the course of the spring, keep noting these patterns on a map. You’ll start to get a sense of an individual bird’s territory in that season.
You may notice boundaries shift before, during and after nesting. At other times of year, you may get a sense of territorial boundaries and feeding hierarchies for certain birds around seasonal food sources.
This is a great exercise to do each year at your sit spot. You may even recognize individual birds that return year after year, and it’s fun to watch their activities and patterns over time.
2) Tracking and Territory Maps
You can also relate your territory maps to your maps of mammal activity, and start to weave together possible alarm sequences with tracks and trails that you observe. These kinds of mysteries are never-ending and very absorbing.
Thank You!
Thanks again for your interest in birds and learning bird language. We hope you’ve enjoyed this e-course introduction to the art of learning bird language. We’ll continue to send out updates as we add content to the BirdLanguage.com blog.
In Connection,
Josh Lane and the BirdLanguage.com Team