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Birdwatching

Your lifetime ticket to the theater of nature

     

Birdwatching Dot Com

Birding Gifts

Birdwatching FAQ

Birdwatching Tips

Birdwatching Stories

Birdwatching Videos

Birdwatching Software

Birdwatching Optics

Birdwatching Bookstore

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The Binocular Advisor

The Scopes Advisor

Birdwatching Dot Com is about wild birds and the sport of birding. It's for everyone who's interested in bird watching and enjoying nature.

Kozy Spa Birdbath
Elegant lines, easy to clean, good all year

Kozy Spa BirdbathAttract birds year around with this heated bath on a pedestal. It keeps water unfrozen in winter.

Its clean, classic lines are lovely in summer, too. We also found it was easy to keep clean, because of its simple bowl, with no bumps or crevices to attract algae.

We have a Kozy Spa Birdbath in our own garden at Birdwatching Dot Com.

Newsletter March, 2009We enjoy sharing the lore of birding in a free e-newsletter about birds and birding. For a sample, click the miniature at right to see the March, 2009, issue.

Please subscribe. Or see some back issues.

We hope you'll find some good ideas here to help you have fun watching birds. Birdwatching is your lifetime ticket to the theater of nature.


Mid-priced Scopes Round-up, by Michael & Diane Porter, from May, 2009, Bird Watcher's Digest, has hands-on reviews of outstanding values in spotting scopes at moderate prices.

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EquinoxVortex binoculars. We're impressed! Vortex makes good optics in the same factories as big-name manufacturers. Good quality for a lot less. The warranty is unconditional and transferable.

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Pentax Papilio binocularA fascinating binocular for watching butterflies is the Papilio, from Pentax. It focuses as close as 18 inches

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 BEAUTIFUL CALENDAR HELPS BLACK SWAMP

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Winged Journey CalendarBryan Holliday and Sally Deems-Mogyordy announce their 2010 Winged Journey calendar. Calendar sales help the Black Swamp Bird Observatory, in Ohio. The calendar makes a great holiday gift for a birding friend.

We visited Black Swamp Bird Observatory in September, 2009. What a great place! The people who work there are passionately devoted to rescuing injured birds and animals, preserving habitat, and educating kids and adults about birds and other wildlife.


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 WATCHING BIRDS WITH YOUR EARS

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Black-capped ChickadeeWe can see more birds with our ears than we can with our eyes. We can hear birds behind us, or hidden in a tree. We can even hear birds in the dark. (Think owls.)

Knowing songs really opens up our experience of birds. Winter, with only a few birds singing, is an easy time to start learning birds' songs.

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  THIS MORNING OUTSIDE with Diane

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Pine Siskin

Nov. 2 Pine Siskin
Nov. 1 Autumn Oaks
Oct. 22 Tufted Titmouse
Oct. 18 Song Sparrow
Oct. 17 Upside-down Bird
Oct. 9 The Junco Train
Oct. 7 Red-bellied Woodpecker and Acorn
Oct. 6 Male Northern Cardinal, Wet
Oct. 5 Yellow-rumps, Now and Then
Oct. 3
Turkey Vulture

Index  to This Morning Outside

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  BIRDWATCHING STARTER KIT

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Starter Kit Here are the essentials for a successful start in bird watching. The Birdwatching Starter Kit includes three items.

A very decent, basic binocular. A field guide to help you identify the birds you see. And our own DVD, How to Start Watching Birds.

Gifts

Gifts! for the birdwatcher. Feeders, baths, and birdhouses to make your backyard an oasis for birds. And binoculars! See our page of our best picks for binoculars in every price range.

Good binoculars under $200!Cardinal SaleMany come with free shipping. And if you're looking for the very best, check out the $250 rebate on the Zeiss Victory FLs.

From Nikon
The Almost Pocketable Scope

Nikon ScopeWe fell in love with this tiny 50mm spotting scope when we saw it.

It was so bright and sharp bought one ourselves. Diane took it to Guatemala and easily carried it up steep rainforest trails. She had great views of birds through it. Check it out!


  BIRDING SOFTWARE

New GOLD Edition!
of Thayer's Birds of North America from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Pop the DVD into your computer, and have 957 birds.

Easy to use. Educational (and really fun). Thousands of color photos, short videos, quizzes, and loads of features. A wonderful way to learn your birds. And of couse you can still get the regular edition, for PC or Mac, at a lower price.


Birding with your Kids

Would you like to start birdwatching with your kids? Here are some tips! And some great gift ideas for kids.


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  BIRDING DVDs

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Reviews of DVDs about birds and birding. Some are classics, like Watching Warblers, which has been our best-selling DVD for several years. Others are new, like Beauty and the Beast (about hummingbirds).

   
   
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In the Birdwatching Dot Com store, we offer bird feeders, bird baths, and bird houses. These are things to transform your backyard into an oasis of wildlife for you to enjoy. You'll find squirrel-proof feeders, hummingbird feeders, and various artistic feeders. Try your hand at easy birdhouse kits you can build yourself, get a birdhouse for your wrens, or attract purple martins with purple martin gourds and houses. We have birding videos, birdig software, birding vests, and bird books, as well as tools to learn the songs of birds. And we have binoculars, spotting scopes, and tripods for every need and every budget.

Michael and Diane Porter
(Who we are)        Email us

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Photos on this website are copyright Michael and Diane Porter. Some belong to other photographers, even if their names do not appear. (We do not use photos without permission from the copyright holder.) Please respect photographers' ownership of their work. If you wish to include a photo from Birdwatching Dot Com on your web site, please email us and do so only if you obtain our permission.

Birdwatching Dot Com

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2197 236th Blvd., Fairfield, IA 52556
dporter@lisco.com

Phone 800-779-7256 (US and Canada)
or 641-472-7256
FAX 641-469-5065

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