While I’m driving alone, I use a digital voice recorder to keep track of the birds I see, then transpose the list to my computer when I get home.

Kit

Confession time! While I normally do exactly what Cheryl said, this time I decided to “cheat.” I carried a pen and a piece of paper and wrote down the birds 5 and 10 at a time. When I did a longer ride last week, I found myself enjoying the birds less as I approached 50 (too much thinking involved). Since I was hoping for a 50+ day. I decided to cheat. But on “normal” rides I will continue to exercise my brain. As most of you know, it was my therapy to cure my “chemo-brain,” after lymphoma. Now if there was only something to cure my “dumbs**t brain.”

Tom

That list is impressive but even more so because I know you memorize those birds – in order of being seen – and write them all down from memory when you get home.  I’ve been trying to do it but it’s hard!  Great Brain Exercise!  You get a double whammy on your Bike4Birds – Physical and Mental Exercise! 

Keep it up!  Love your posts!

Cheryl 

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

You know it’s going to be a great day when you get a half block from your house and there’s a Spotted Towhee in a neighbor’s bushes. While he was not FOY, he was the first I’ve ever seen in the North End of Boise.

Then, at Esther Simplot, I saw a Kestrel gliding down from a tree. I followed his trajectory and he went UNDER a car, scaring up a Song Sparrow that was his apparent target. After going under the car and missing, he just kept on going to another tree.

Next treat at Esther was a mixed raft of ducks: N. Shovelers, Canvasbacks, and FOY Cinnamon Teal. Twenty-two birds in less than 2 miles, a good start.

At 6 miles I already had 36 species, so of course I had to go further. At the GH Owl’s nest, I had a flyover of Sandhill Cranes. That’s when I ran into my first birder, Missy Arnold. Shortly after that I ran into Jason Talbot. Thanks to the two of them, I was able to add a few more birds, including a pair of N. Harriers that seemed to be doing a “pas de deux” over the large open field at the end of the paved path. Right after that, I spotted something quite large moving through that field. Thinking it was a deer, I got out binos and found a Wild Turkey moving through the brush.

I’ve attached the full list. Final tally was 57 birds in a little under 22 miles.

Tom McCabe, Boise