For the Birdwatchers, Twitchers etc.

Hix

Hix

Wildlife Enthusiast and Lover of Islands
15+ year member
Premium Member
Found this the other day while looking for Christmas presents, bought one and thought I'd let others know about it:

Australian Geographic Birdwatcher's Journal | Australian Geographic Shop

I'm posting in this forum and not one of the main ones as the Journal has checklist at the back of all Australian birds and some Australian birding hotspots. Although, as the main body of the journal deals with the birds you have sighted, it could easily be used by anyone anywhere overseas, you just wouldn't use the checklist. It is notebook size (a fat notebook) and fits in a shirt pocket.

If anyone has used them I'd be interested to hear what they think.

:p

Hix
 
I might put a Christmas request in for this one, looks like it could be pretty handy.

An app, nanoboy, really? Who is going to want to write down their bird-sighting reports on an app. Do apps work in remote, no-reception, areas (where birding is likely to occur)? I don't know, just asking.
 
from the advert I gather it is a flip-notebook, which I would find annoying and at a guess would suggest wouldn't stay in one piece as long as a regular notebook.
 
Chlidonias said:
from the advert I gather it is a flip-notebook, which I would find annoying and at a guess would suggest wouldn't stay in one piece as long as a regular notebook.
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True, I hadn't noticed that. I think that would be annoying to use, a book-shape would be way better.
 
zooboy28 said:
I might put a Christmas request in for this one, looks like it could be pretty handy.

An app, nanoboy, really? Who is going to want to write down their bird-sighting reports on an app. Do apps work in remote, no-reception, areas (where birding is likely to occur)? I don't know, just asking.
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The files are stored on your smart device, so you don't need access to the Internet. So yes, the app will work in remote areas with no reception as long as it has juice. So in that respect, it probably isn't the best solution for serious birders, but most devices can give you a couple days before needing charging. I charge my iPad twice a week.

The apps come with tables or whatever to tick your sightings, so there is even less work involved in recording your birds!

The Morcombe app is cool: there is a lite version for free that you can try with about 50 birds before deciding to buy. Download it and tell me what you think. Does your bird book play different calls of each bird? (The app does.) It's free, so knock it only after you download it and try it. :)
 
nanoboy said:
The files are stored on your smart device, so you don't need access to the Internet. So yes, the app will work in remote areas with no reception as long as it has juice. So in that respect, it probably isn't the best solution for serious birders, but most devices can give you a couple days before needing charging. I charge my iPad twice a week.

The apps come with tables or whatever to tick your sightings, so there is even less work involved in recording your birds!

The Morcombe app is cool: there is a lite version for free that you can try with about 50 birds before deciding to buy. Download it and tell me what you think. Does your bird book play different calls of each bird? (The app does.) It's free, so knock it only after you download it and try it. :)
Click to expand...

Oh ok, I know very little about "techy" things, and I loathe my "smart"phone, which is about the stupidest thing I own. I have never downloaded an app or anything like that. I can't even get the internet browser to work usefully. I might buy a bigger phone in the future and utilise its functions more, but I solely use my current phone for texting (and answering the odd phone call).

The Morcambe app sounds pretty neat, and that would be the sort of app I would download if I had the ability/interest. I have Morecambe's Field Guide to Australian Birds, which is an excellent book, with all the info I think I need for now. I'm absolutely useless with bird calls (one of my uni papers had a bird call test worth 10% and they gave us recordings to listen too. I got 3 out of 20 in the test). Does the app detail over 850 birds, have more than 3400 illustrations and over 275,000 words? Lol. How much does the app cost?

P.S. I have a app question for you here: http://www.zoochat.com/1601/signage-black-stilts-himantopus-novaezelandiae-296549/
 
zooboy28 said:
Oh ok, I know very little about "techy" things, and I loathe my "smart"phone, which is about the stupidest thing I own. I have never downloaded an app or anything like that. I can't even get the internet browser to work usefully. I might buy a bigger phone in the future and utilise its functions more, but I solely use my current phone for texting (and answering the odd phone call).

The Morcambe app sounds pretty neat, and that would be the sort of app I would download if I had the ability/interest. I have Morecambe's Field Guide to Australian Birds, which is an excellent book, with all the info I think I need for now. I'm absolutely useless with bird calls (one of my uni papers had a bird call test worth 10% and they gave us recordings to listen too. I got 3 out of 20 in the test). Does the app detail over 850 birds, have more than 3400 illustrations and over 275,000 words? Lol. How much does the app cost?
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it has about the app thing here: https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/michael-morcombe-eguide-to/id397979505?mt=8

Personally I like books, I like carrying a field guide. And of course I don't know what an app even is, or a smart-phone, or an iPad, or any of those other things the hip young people have. And seriously, can you fend off a rabid dog with a smart-phone? I think not!
 
Chlidonias said:
it has about the app thing here: https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/michael-morcombe-eguide-to/id397979505?mt=8

Personally I like books, I like carrying a field guide. And of course I don't know what an app even is, or a smart-phone, or an iPad, or any of those other things the hip young people have. And seriously, can you fend off a rabid dog with a smart-phone? I think not!
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Same. And if it rains (unlikely in Australia but still) and your device gets wet, then you lose everything (I presume).

THIRTY-TWO DOLLARS!!!!! For an app! The book only cost me $45 and its tangible!
 
have you had the opportunity to actually use the Morecombe field guide, zooboy28?

I have all the main Australian guides but I only take the Slater guide when I go over there because its the smallest and easiest to travel with (fits into the pocket of cargo pants). The pictures/colours are sometimes a bit out of whack and you really just have to ignore the maps completely because they're useless, but I find it the most useful guide (for a tyro birder in Australia it might not be the best though). The Simpson and Day guide I really don't like much for use in the field; the plates are too busy (set out "artistically" rather than with the aim of easy comparisons for identification) although the artwork itself is probably the best of the lot. I think its a great book for checking back at home, but not for travelling with. The Pizzey and Knight book is probably the second best in my opinion. The Morecombe is the worst of the four: he just isn't a very good artist and often the colours are wildly off, although I do appreciate the maps are probably the best out of the four guides, and the lay-out is interesting (picture and text in one box for each species).


In Australia the choice of field guide is very polarising, especially with Morecombe!! Some love it and some hate it!
 
Chlidonias said:
have you had the opportunity to actually use the Morecombe field guide, zooboy28?

I have all the main Australian guides but I only take the Slater guide when I go over there because its the smallest and easiest to travel with (fits into the pocket of cargo pants). The pictures/colours are sometimes a bit out of whack and you really just have to ignore the maps completely because they're useless, but I find it the most useful guide (for a tyro birder in Australia it might not be the best though). The Simpson and Day guide I really don't like much for use in the field; the plates are too busy (set out "artistically" rather than with the aim of easy comparisons for identification) although the artwork itself is probably the best of the lot. I think its a great book for checking back at home, but not for travelling with. The Pizzey and Knight book is probably the second best in my opinion. The Morecombe is the worst of the four: he just isn't a very good artist and often the colours are wildly off, although I do appreciate the maps are probably the best out of the four guides, and the lay-out is interesting (picture and text in one box for each species).


In Australia the choice of field guide is very polarising, especially with Morecombe!! Some love it and some hate it!
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I didn't realise there was such debate! I have only used the field guide to ID bird photos, mostly from Featherdale and a few other places. I found it generally helpful, but I couldn't ID everything with it.
 
zooboy28 said:
I didn't realise there was such debate! I have only used the field guide to ID bird photos, mostly from Featherdale and a few other places. I found it generally helpful, but I couldn't ID everything with it.
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if you're living over there it is generally recommended to have all (or most) of those four field guides, because they all have their flaws and good points. Most Australian birders have their favourite, which they use most of the time, and the others are back home on the shelf for reference or double-checking.
 
Childonias is a lost cause, but a young guy like zooboy28 I thought would be all over the technology. :D

Yes, the Morcombe app has lots of info, pics etc - everything the book has, plus bird sounds. I think that he is leading the pack with birding apps.

The iPad can whack a rabid dog as it is quite durable - my cats play cat games on it all the time and they have not broken it yet. :D I should upload a video - oh wait, there are hundreds like it on YouTube already.

I need to get a photo from my parents house with my library from before the last 10 years - it was massive! The last books I bought and left there were on Mongol war tactics, and another on the Ottoman Empire. I remember it like it was yesterday, although it was 10 years ago. :D My library in my own house isn't far off the cartoon though - about 10 books. On a side note, National Geographic subscribers in America can access the iPad app for free, but Australians have to pay! Lame.

But back to the bird book app/book. There are pros and cons of both media, so it is best to have both, as I do. I enjoy recording a sighting in my book and looking back with nostalgia months or years later about the day trip, but I also like being able to use my phone to hear bird sounds. I am not a serious birder though, so the two pronged approach works for me.
 
nanoboy said:
The iPad can whack a rabid dog as it is quite durable - my cats play cat games on it all the time and they have not broken it yet. :D I should upload a video - oh wait, there are hundreds like it on YouTube already.


But back to the bird book app/book. There are pros and cons of both media, so it is best to have both, as I do. I enjoy recording a sighting in my book and looking back with nostalgia months or years later about the day trip, but I also like being able to use my phone to hear bird sounds. I am not a serious birder though, so the two pronged approach works for me.
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isn't an iPad quite big? The ones I've seen being held up in front of me to take a photo (as per the iPad thread) certainly are. Why would you be taking that out into the bush when birding?!

While I do not pretend to understand the technology of the youngsters like nanoboy or their jive-talking and hip-walking, I can see the attraction of this particular app given that it includes the bird calls. I'm not sure if it would be as user-friendly in the field as an actual book though, which you can quickly flick through the pages of to find a bird?
 
Yes, an iPad is indeed quite big, but a mobile phone (that you can have the app on) fits in your pocket. So use the book to whack a dog, but use the phone to hear a bird call.

I own the Simpson and Day guide. I chose that one because of the price, availability, and the pretty pictures. And yes, I did buy it online. :D I should state that I did not buy the birding app because I already have a bird book, but avid birders like you folks with more than one book should not think twice about giving the app a try. And just to whet your appetite, in the not so distant future, the app should be able to identify bird calls - just like Shazam/SoundHound identifies songs by holding your phone in the air.
 
nanoboy said:
Yes, an iPad is indeed quite big, but a mobile phone (that you can have the app on) fits in your pocket. So use the book to whack a dog, but use the phone to hear a bird call.

I own the Simpson and Day guide. I chose that one because of the price, availability, and the pretty pictures. And yes, I did buy it online. :D I should state that I did not buy the birding app because I already have a bird book, but avid birders like you folks with more than one book should not think twice about giving the app a try. And just to whet your appetite, in the not so distant future, the app should be able to identify bird calls - just like Shazam/SoundHound identifies songs by holding your phone in the air.
Click to expand...
what? Shazam? SoundHound? Are you hepped up on goofballs again?

If I bought the app I'd then need to buy something to use it on as well!

Wait, what, they have mobile phones now??! Like, without a cord or anything? Technology eh?
 
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