Where Birding Meets the iPhone

Hidily Ho! A quick note here to let you know that my latest article, a fun story covering seven ways the iPhone enhances my birding, can be found in the October issue of Birder’s World.

Laura Kammermeier, former leader of Project FeederWatch and founding officer of the Ohio Ornithological Society, describes how seven features of the iPhone — on-the-go e-mail, text messaging, GPS mapping, digital field guides, song and note recorders, on-the-go bird songs, and social networking — have improved her birdwatching. Kammermeier also describes BirdsEye, an iPhone app for eBird developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Audubon, and she lists a dozen of the most popular and useful apps for birdwatchers, including iBird, National Geographic Handheld Birds, and Peterson Field Guides to Warblers.

The issue can be found online, but the feature story can only be read by subscribers (if you’re not already reading Birder’s World, you should be!).

Also inside, my photo of Delaware’s first Roseate Spoonbill, though it pales in comparison to other more excellent and beautiful bird photographs, such as the full-page spread of a Blue-crowned Motmot by Marie Read (pronounced MAR-ee, not Mah-REE), whom I also happen to call a dear and cantankerous friend. : )

Marie’s photography has a signature style and imprint, which makes hers stand out among the crowded pages of top bird magazines such as Living Bird, Bird Watcher’s Digest, WildBird, Birds & Blooms, and Birder’s World.

Back when I lived near Ithaca, NY and was hosting my first-ever family of Eastern Bluebirds, Marie came down, camped out for a few days in a blind, and took many great shots. I’m a sucker for good bird photography, but when the bird is “your bird,” get outta here! I was spoiled rotten to see “my bluebird” pop up over the years on calendars, cards, and brochures.  Check out Marie’s work.