Finding birds in woodland (1 Viewer)

[Big Badger]

Hello everyone. I'm new to all this, but enjoying it so far. One of my frustrations has been going to wooded areas and hearing all the birds around me but not being able to see the birds themselves! Most of the time I can't even tell which tree the birds are in, unless they move around a lot. Does anyone have any tips for seeing birds in the woods that might help?

Cheers,

BB

 

[Gill Osborne]

Hello BB and welcome to Bird Forum.

Yes, watching *or trying to!!!* birds in woodlands in the summer months can be a bit frustrating at times!
It DOES get easier with practice so the more you get out there and do it the more you get your eye in and find the birds a lot easier!
I will admit it IS very annoying when you can hear something up above you which you don't recognise and whn you DO finally latch onto it moving about all you see is an occasional flirt of the tail or a wing!!! You NEVER get a clear view!!!!!! Especially with those darned awkward warblers! :storm:

I much prefer winter as there's no leaves to block your view and a lot of the smaller birds tend to go around in groups - makes birding SO much easier :-O And you dont have to drive yourself demented trying to learn vaious songs!!!

I'm sure there'll be other members along soon to offer more hints - all I can offer is just be patient and practice, practice, practice and soon, without realising it, you'll instinctively get a 'feel' for certain habitats and what birds 'should' be there. And once you learn the various calls and songs it DOES get a lot easier. :t:

 

[RobF]

Try and get to grips with bird songs and calls, its often all you have to go on. Dawn chorus can be a bit intimidating, so pick an 'off peak' time and try and ID one bird at a time.

I never got good views of Crossbills until I learnt their calls and then followed them up.

Happy hunting.

Rob

 

[Keith Dickinson]

Cup your hands round your ears, this makes them more directional and can help you to get the area where the bird is calling from narrowed down a bit. Do this with your head up and then on one side, this enables you to home in horizontally and vertically. Have a care though you can get very peculiar looks from passers by. :t:

 

[ta brandreth]

Find a nice mature tree,preferably on a high point in the wood,sit down,lean against it and get as comfortable as possible,and wait for for the birds to come to you,fieldcraft is essential in woodland,learning calls is a must,best method trace the bird - once you traced the call back a couple of times it seems to lodge in there!!

For birds in high canopies, lie down and wait for movement above,then find the bird.

While your waiting,soak in the atmosphere,woodland will give you a real 'feelgood' boost,if there's one thing I would criticise about birding it is the obsession with naming everything that moves,it's that victorian collector mentality - the main point is enjoy the birds and the experience.

 

[Chris Oates]

Hello everyone. I'm new to all this, but enjoying it so far. One of my frustrations has been going to wooded areas and hearing all the birds around me but not being able to see the birds themselves! Most of the time I can't even tell which tree the birds are in, unless they move around a lot. Does anyone have any tips for seeing birds in the woods that might help?

Cheers,

BB

Nightmare isn't it - staring blankly at a tree listening to yet another 'sueee' and a passer-by says 'nice Chaffinch'.
I use the RSPB website's A-Z of UK birds as it has sound samples of bird song - also use Collins Bird songs & calls of Britain & Northern Europe which is usefull as the birds are grouped by habitat.

 

[iano]

Find a nice mature tree,preferably on a high point in the wood,sit down,lean against it and get as comfortable as possible,and wait for for the birds to come to you.

While your waiting,soak in the atmosphere,woodland will give you a real 'feelgood' boost,if there's one thing I would criticise about birding it is the obsession with naming everything that moves,it's that victorian collector mentality - the main point is enjoy the birds and the experience.

Couldn't have put it better myself ...... and check out the rest of the nature that's there ...... not just the birds ...... as for lists ..... grrrrrr

 

[Big Badger]

Thanks for all the tips; I think maybe I'll have to just chill out a bit and not worry too much if I can't identify everything straight away. The amazing thing I've found, is since I've got my binocs and started trying to identify birds, I've seen them everywhere! On Sunday I got a really good look (5-10 minutes) at a kingfisher by the river, and further on a goldcrest was sitting in a bush literally 5 feet away, completely oblivious to us. I don't think I've ever positively identified a goldcrest before (although I've probably seen them and not noticed what they are).

One point regarding identification by song is that my books seem to conflict; I saw what I thought was a coal tit or marsh tit (only got a quick look at it) in a NT garden. I thought it was saying "pea-chew" - but when I checked my books, one said it was a marsh tit and one said something else (sorry can't remember as don't have the books in front of me).

 

[terryeyre]

get a cd of bird songs and listen to the varius songs and calls of the more common birds,and as you get used to them move on to the warblers and other less common birds.

 

[Evanji Axu]

When I go to my local Wild Birds unlimited store, I always make sure to squeeze all the singing plushies in order to familiarize myself with the calls. I bird in relatively open woods next to a river, but the logic is similar - I listen for movement/calls and try to track them down.

 

[dendroica_john]

I would suggest learning bird songs for spring and summer birding. It makes things much easier, and it is not as hard as it might seem. Like with visual birding, it is just a matter of narrowing down the possibilities, but based on aural field marks instead of visual ones.

Tracking down birds in dense foliage is hard even for advanced birders. Cupping your ears and moving your head around is definitely helpful. Another possibility is to find a source of food or water and wait there. Birds are bound to show up eventually.

 

[400mark]

Woodland birding is never easy, you can make it easier on yourself by birding the more open areas, woodland edges and clearings where it is easier to spot the birds moving or to find a puddle or drinking pool & wait for the birds to come to you.

After time you will learn a lot of the calls and songs but it can take a while.

 

[florall]

This last winter we spent a lot of time in a rather productive woodland, where we made a determined effort to learn the bird calls (and later in the winter, songs). We spent ages investigating every call and we learnt a lot. In the end, we didn't have to look for the bird to know what we were hearing - we would walk through pointing and saying: 'blue tit', 'goldcrest' etc. as we heard a call. It helped a lot when we were in other woods. But it did take a lot of practice, and there are still many calls and songs that I'm unfamiliar with, so I guess I'll have to keep on working at it. I should think it takes years.

 

[deborah4]

Hi BB

In addition to above - Bino practice! Getting used to your particular pair of binos and having a 'feel' for the depth of field through the lenses. Thus, once you hear a call/song coming from dense folliage, guage roughly where the song is coming from, study the tree/bush and pick out some 'landmarks' with your naked eye ie. a particular branch or shady patch - then target your binos working through the depth of folliage with focussing rather than trying to scan the whole tree - using this method slowing working round the whole tree I find it's amazing how often you can then spot the bird you hear!

 

[buzzard12]

Few tricks i have learnt in Tyreso, huge forest area here in Stockholm...

In winter scatter some grain and hang some feeders in the same place, you will be amazed at the numbers of birds that can be attracted, can get a little expensive!

try to find raised ground, embankments, hillsides, steep slopes and take a position in line with the canopy and wait. Mature Oaks are great stake out points.

Water attracts birds in dry, hot weather...

learn calls and bird songs, this is the way to see birds in woodland habitat in spring and summer..