Merlin Bird Bonanza 2024

Good morning,

After being discussed on recent podcasts by one Dan Ryckert, and after the reception received by the other duders, I spent the morning traipsing around the countryside with my phone out and Merlin active, capturing the souls (I think that's how it works) of all the birds around me.

What's cool about it is that it tells you the "rarity" of the birds. I was in the ruins of an old abbey, and it looks like a Eurasian Kestrel has made a crumbling tower it's home, which rules. I couldn't see it very well, But the audio was very clear.

I also found a Eurasian blue Tit and a Great tit which amused me greatly because I am a child.

This app rules. It was a lot of fun and added a great dimension to my weekend Big Long Walk. I can't recommend it enough.

Maybe it would be nice to post any cool pics / entries of badass birds in this thread?

Below is part of the entry for the kestrel and also a terrible photo I took of a hooded crow from about 200feet and the app still recognised it.

Gallery

I once made the observation to some friends that Pokémon GO and birdwatching are the same thing just for different generations, and I stand by this.

@bisonhero: You are absolutely correct, except more young people are into birdwatching than you'd expect and more old people are into PoGo than you'd expect, too. They're really both for everyone with an open mind.

I'm not that keen on app-based birdwatching or checking off a list of birds seen but I've been casually into it for as long as I have been video games(perks of having an ornithologist brother) so it's really great to see some uptake here. One note as well, it's not clear how much longer many birds will be around so enjoy them while you can. And for their sake, keep your cats inside as they are an extremely large reason why many migratory song bird populations are down around 60-70%. Your cats will be healthier too :)