Peregrine Falcon photo courtesy Boulder OSMP

This year I applied to be a Raptor Nest Watch volunteer with Boulder Mountain Parks & Open Space. I found out about the opportunity on the Boulder county nature-net mailing list (from the Boulder County Nature Association) and found myself thrilled at the opportunity to monitor nests of eagles, osprey, falcons (and other species.) Bird of prey are so spectacular, and yet other than the few standouts like the eagles/osprey so hard to identify in the field (for the non-native birder, like me.) As such, ever since I applied I’ve been excited about what I’d learn.

I was lucky enough to be accepted into the program, and assigned a nest site not too far from my home, and in a beautiful location (not that they all aren’t around here.) I was assigned peregrine falcon, a bird I hadn’t even realized was around here. I saw my first Peregrine Falcon (at least first since perhaps in childhood) when in Cornwall, UK last year. I was hiking along the clifftops and a parent/offspring duo flew past me granting me a wonderful close-up. Having them here in Colorado, near my home, wow … awesome!

I’ve never been much of a joiner, and I like my nature empty (except for wild critters, my iPhone to record my wildlife, and my dog at camp) so this application was a first for me. Amusingly perhaps I’ve joined the volunteer program that suits this preference best, since observers perform their observation duties by themselves and exchange reports via e-mail. Still, I’ve met others in the team (for this site) at the orientation meeting and on a field trip, and both times enjoyed their company. It is nice to know who they are, to understand the pleasure we all share from the outdoors, and to get and share reports on the site. Working behind the computer of a day it is wonderful to be vicariously taken outside, to connect with this wildlife location.

My first solo trip for the weekly two hour observation duty met with decent weather, and clear skies. Falcons (other than Kestrels, which are partial migrants here) are only just returning to Colorado so there is not much falcon activity, however the Golden Eagle put in an appearance high above. A pair of these massive & majestic birds rode the thermals along the ridge-line (rising, tucking wings and diving to rise again as if having a roller-coaster of fun) before resting on the rocks above. Townsend’s Solitaire were the ‘dawn’ chorus, with American Robins soon taking over as the noise makers.

All in all a very pleasant time of putting the busy world aside for a while and sitting watching the natural world while contributing to natural science. I am so grateful of this opportunity, and am looking forward to the nesting season ahead.

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Note to those concerned: I’ve checked with OSMP on what I should (and should not) post on this topic, and now and during the nesting season will limit my comments to those that do not convey more information than can be found on the OSMP website.

WildObs Mobile 1.1 for Android now supports Android 1.5 to Android 2.0 and beyond.

Here is a brief overview of WildObs Mobile including how to use WildObs Mobile for Android to:

• Browse community wildlife encounters (featured, most popular and recent.)
• Perform a species look-up by name or partial name, viewing photographs and other encounters.

Find out more about WildObs Mobile for Android or (if you are on an Android device) go to the market:

WildObs Lookout is the latest iphone application to join the WildObs family of wildlife iphone applications. Lookout allows you to find nature around you (to “keep a lookout”) and get some ideas of what wildlife you could experience. Let crowd-sourcing help you get away from the crowds and experiencing nature…

Are you visiting a park for the first time, are you looking for something new around you? Do you have an itch to experience something new? Let the many amazing wildlife observers in the wildobs community lead you to nature. See what others are seeing, and tune in to the wildlife around you:

• Lookout is location based, it shows you encounters around where you are.
• Dive into each encounter:
  • Map the encounters, include your current location, launch Google maps for driving directions.
  • Expand photographs for greater detail.
  • Explore the species (locally, on wildobs and on the Internet w/ NWF.org and Wikipedia.)
  • Find more local encounters for the species.
• Browse community encounters:
  • Recent encounters from the wildobs time-line.
  • Features encounters (great stories, images or otherwise special critters/encounters.)
  • Popular encounters (voted on by the WildObs community.)

• View encounters for species from your “favorite species” list.
• View encounters for species from your “wish-list species” list.
• Comment on observer encounters within the community.

WildObs Lookout 1.0

Find your nature…

Lookout for nature...

Dig into each encounter:

View the encounter

Map any set of encounters (local or wide spread):

Map wildlife encounters

Cool Snake Park (aka Van Bibber Park)

Do you have a local park or open space that is just wonderful with wildlife? If it helped get more families to engage and play outdoors would you share it with others? I hope so…

My daughter and I have two criteria for where we get our daily green hours with one being “fun playground equipment with a random smattering of other kids” (guess who picked that one and the other being “local wildlife”.

Over the last year we have found a some really good spots. Here is the (cool & harmless) snake park. Here is the oriole & king bird park. Here is the biking/scootering owl & waterfowl trail. Also, here is where I go when I need to get a little exercise and be on top of the world, while still remaining close enough to get back on time to shuttle to soccer.

Wildlife is all around us and it is fun & relatively easy to get one’s green hour with wildlife while playing at local parks or on trails. If we share with each other the good parks and open spaces, and what they hold for us, we can appreciate wildlife right in our neighborhoods. Please share your park’s wildife with others.

Here is how to add your park…

If you haven’t already, create your WildObs username, or claim your Twitter username to become a WildObs Observer.

Then, post a wildlife encounter for your favorite wildlife spot. You can use the WildObs website, or (if you have one) your iPhone or iPod Touch. You don’t need to list every species, perhaps just the one or two that make the place special for you.

Put your park on the map. Put it’s wildlife on the map.

Park Sharing Observers

Here are some wonderful observers sharing their parks:

• @RichGarneua sharing Den Rock Park in Andover, MA.
• @yashka sharing waterfowl in Bruce Park in Greenwich, CT.
• @tglowacki sharing Monarch Park in Niwot, CO.
• @cedavis sharing Sylvan Beach Park in La Porte, TX.
• @kristinakaye sharing Island Beach State Park, NJ.
• @colin_dobson sharing Osterley Park in London, UK.
• @balmeras sharing Huntley Meadows Park in Alexandria-VA.

Hummingbird? No ... not even a bird.

Dad, what is that? Mom, and that?

If you are walking along, you see something cool, and your child asks you “what is that neat animal?” or “what is that pretty flower?” you know the sinking feeling if you cannot answer. All they asked was the thing’s name so you take your best guess, which could easily be the wrong species. Wouldn’t it be good to have some help here?

Well nature sure doesn’t make it easy when some things just look like each other. For example, a hummingbird and a hummingbird hawk-moth share a lot of similarities, and at first/quick glance (which is often all one gets) one can easily mix them up. For many of us the same is true of Moose and Elk, Wolf and Coyote and so on, not to mention wildflowers, bugs and other fun species.

Naming is step #1 in knowing…

Not knowing (or mistaking) the species of wildlife you encounter does not stop you enjoying the experience. The beauty, the character, the interest are all still there irrespective of a name. However, it is better to know because knowing allows a closer connection with that moment, access to fun facts about the critter, and/or recording on a life list. Know when you can know, but enjoy anyway when you cannot.

Contribute common mix-ups

Knowledge of common mix-ups (and a known one is Wolf and Coyote) is half the battle, and helps us avoid falling for them. Being more comfortable that we identified the critter will significantly increase all our enjoyment of wildlife spotting, and it is wildlife spotting fun that this is all about. Bringing wildlife closer to all of us, and us closer to wildlife.

I would like to see the identification situation improve in favor of us all, and one way to help is to share knowledge of common mix-ups… Please let me know what wildlife pairs you know that people frequently misidentify. I plan to use this data to help folks reduce such mix-ups.

To contribute, either leave a comment here, or tweet to @wildobs and use the #wildobs-mixup tag. Something like this tweet (below) would be great, but be creative:

Example #wildobs-mixup Tweet

Some examples off the top of my head from this part of the world:

• Elk and Moose
• Elk and Mule Deer
• Rock Squirrel and Eastern Gray Squirrel

You have to love what the folks at NWF are doing to promote getting out there and connecting with wildlife. Track them on Twitter and track some of their stories on their NWF Twitter stream.

Here is an awesome video NWF created about Wildlife Watch:

 

 
Share this information with a link or badge:

Hummer Anticipation

Will you survey your wildlife species this year? Here is why I (and others) do on WildObs.com. Please join us.

One of the many things I love about Colorado is how dramatic the seasons are. Glorious summers, beautiful autumns, white winters (normally) and budding/optimistic springs. Springs bring an abundance of life to Colorado after the relative peace of winter. Springs bring birds back from migration, bears back from hibernation, and plants to sustain them all. For me the anticipation of spring is palpable, I get increasingly excited as the days get warmer, and the species return.

I have watched and recorded the return of broad-tailed hummingbirds to Colorado for over a decade (how long I’ve been in this house, which is almost as long as I’ve been up these mountains) and I know to expect the first scout on April 15th (or April 14th more recently.) I clean out my feeders (and remind my local community to do the same via http://www.hummingbirds.net/feeders.html#cleaning) and present these red beacons to the sky by April 1st. I know I am listening for that sound, that buzzing hum, from then on.

Finally, a year ago, I decided I wanted to record my encounters (especially first-of-season encounters) shared on a public website. I didn’t find a website that let me pick the species, or let me pick what species I wanted to record and/or follow. In part this led to the creation of WildObs http://wildobs.com/.

With WildObs each individual gets to monitor and record the species that touch them, the ones they love or admire (like the wren, one of the better songbirds up here.) If the WildObs database does not contain the species you care for, add it & it will. What is different about WildObs is that these recording are shared but also collected as yours, you can

Record the species in your neighborhood (in your yard or on your feeder) but also record what you find at you parks, on your hikes. Your neighbors will thank you for bringing them an understanding of their wildlife neighbors.

Members of the Coal Creek Canyon community have started work on their regional wildlife species list. This survey has helped newcomers to the canyon learn what that big blue bird is, or how frequently bears get stuck in unlocked cars (so lock them!)

Doing a spring survey of your neighborhood, or while on your walks, is fun and records citizen science data for you and others to benefit from. Best of all? You will almost certainly get more in touch with your nature, and probably even learn from human wildlife lovers around you.

Survey your wildlife today.

When I first considered some of the community benefits of sharing wild observations I’d think “I might set a goal of ‘observing a Ptarmigan’, and perhaps the WildObs community could help me directly or indirectly”. I picked this species not just because of the great sounding name, but because I truly wanted to see one. I may have seen one in the UK, but I was quite sure I hadn’t in the US.

Indirectly might be “where is the best place to see Ptarmigan around me” or “what recent sightings have been recorded”, and directly might be “You’ve added ptarmigan to your wishlist, go look here for them”. These are things WildObs could facilitate.
This weekend I was lucky enough to encounter some white-tailed ptarmigan at 11K feet above Diamond Lake, CO. Ok, so this time the WildObs community didn’t help me meet that goal, but perhaps I can help others meet it.