T-Shirt Tuesday: I Love My Backyard Birds
This week's highlighted t-shirt is made for backyard birdwatchers. I Love My Backyard Birds has backyard favorites like the American Robin, Blue Jay, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Black-capped Chickadee and seven others perched on foliage found among the green text.
The backyard bird lover shirt design is shown here on a women's long sleeve t-shirt in white.
Small Site Spruce-Up
The MagnificentFrigatebird.com homepage has been updated a bit. There's more emphasis on my birding gift shop and less on the merchandise affiliated via Amazon.com (the binoculars, books, birdfeeders, etc).
The gifts main page has also been updated with a few new categories: Back Yard Birdwatching, Local Birder, Traveling Birder, and For the Birdmobile. All of the products in the gift shop are all made to order using print-on-demand technology - meaning the products are produced when the order is placed. Most products are fulfilled by CafePress but I'm expanding my offerings using a new provider, Zazzle, so you'll see a different product range available depending on the design you're looking at.
I'd love to hear what you think about the updates made to MagnificentFrigatebird.com!
Bird Blog & Online Contests for September 2009
Here's a list of current (as of September 7th) blog & online contests by birders, for birders, and/or offering birdy prizes. Click on the links to learn more, check eligibility, and enter to win! If you are running a contest or know of something that should be added to this list, please let me know by leaving a comment or sending me an email. This is a monthly post appearing on the first Monday of every month. I will add any updates I find during the month as a comment on this post. If you'd like to stay updated, you can subscribe to the comment RSS feed for this post.
ENDING SOON(ISH)
Etsy seller bridbird is giving away a gocco bird print. Check out the contest page for details. Ends September 14th.
The Nature Conservancy has a Photo Contest. Users can submit images (not restricted to birds) via Flickr through September 30th.
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Celebrate Urban Birds project is running a fun contest through October 31st called "A Murder of Crows and other Spooky Bird Tales." Share stories or images of a bird doing something strange. Prizes range from Eagle Optics binoculars to books, posters and more.
The Swarovski Digiscoper of the Year Contest runs through 31 October. First prize is an EL 32 binocular. Be sure to read the rules before entering.
The Rainforest Alliance is running their 2nd Annual Picture Sustainability Photo Contest. Enter photos to win prizes including a trip for two to Costa Rica. Click here for the rules. Contest ends 1 November.
ONGOING CONTESTS of interest to birders
Each month the Birds & Blooms website runs the Where's Webster? contest. Find Webster the duck on the website and enter to win. Prizes vary and the contest runs month to month.
The Eagle Optics Email Contest is ongoing for anyone subscribed to their newsletter. A new winner is chosen every month. Click here for details.
Birder's Lounge runs a monthly ID Challenge. Prizes vary month to month.
Book Review: Of a Feather
Of a Feather: A Brief History of American Birding by Scott Weidensaul. First published in 2007.
From shotgun ornithologists collecting bird skins to the "angry ladies" that rebelled against the fashion industry's use of bird feathers, and from the first citizen scientists sharing bird sightings to the development of the modern birding field guide, this book covers many fascinating stories in the history of birding in America. You might know that invasive species like the House Sparrow are a headache for many bird lovers, but do you know how these birds got here in the first place? They were invited guests - but even then there was controversy.
One surprisingly divisive issue, which pitted may noted ornithologists against one another, became known as the "Sparrow Wars." North Americans in the late nineteenth century were infatuated with the idea of bringing to the New World foreign birds, especially those from Europe, like the nightingale and skylark, that were famed in art and literature.
Unfortunately the "Sparrow Wars" continue to this day, while, ironically, the House Sparrow is in deep decline back in Europe. I wish I could go back in time to stop the acclimatization crowd from playing their awful "worldwide game of biotic shuffleboard."
For me this book was all about the more I learn about birding, the more I realize that there is so much more to learn. Before reading this book I didn't know much about the history of birding in this country. I'd heard of the most famous players, like John James Audubon, Roger Tory Peterson, David Allen Sibley, etc, but I hadn't heard of so many other figures who were important in the advancement of bird study and birdwatching in the United States. I knew of the Kaufman guidebook series, but I didn't know anything about Kenn Kaufman (and I still don't know much - he wrote a book about his big year a few years ago, I hear). I highly recommend this book to any birder who is interested in learning about the progression of ornithology, bird study, citizen science and birding in America. I enjoyed reading about the origins of the AOU and their checklist, about the first hawk watches, about the Audubon Society throughout the years, and of course about those "Sparrow Wars."
The house (or English) sparrow was a darling of the acclimatization crowd, promoted as a natural control on agricultural pests like cankerworm. [...] In Boston, the city was providing them with nest boxes on Boston Common, while the city forester was employed to kill predators that might harm the imports, including eighty-nine northern shrikes -- an astonishing number of this rare northern migrant -- shot in the winter of 1876-77.
Can you imagine?! And this was a controversy among ornithologists! I give Of a Feather 4 and a half Goldfinches out of 5.
Bird Blog & Online Contests for August 2009
I'm going to continue to keep track of the bird- or birder-themed online contests & giveaways I find, but I think it's a bit much for a weekly post. I'm going to try and post a list on the first Monday of the month. As before, I will add any updates I find during the month as a comment on this post. If you'd like to stay updated, you can subscribe to the comment RSS feed for this post.
Here's a list of current blog & online contests by birders, for birders, and/or offering birdy prizes. Click on the links to learn more, check eligibility, and enter to win! If you are running a contest or know of something that should be added to this list, please let me know by leaving a comment or sending me an email.
ENDING SOON(ISH)
*new to the list this month*</font color> Designs by Vanessa is giving away a mixed media original canvas artwork from Tinker Dot Designs. The work features cute pattered bird silhouettes. Visit the contest page for full details; contest ends August 31st.
The Swarovski Digiscoper of the Year Contest runs through 31 October. First prize is an EL 32 binocular. Be sure to read the rules before entering.
The Rainforest Alliance is running their 2nd Annual Picture Sustainability Photo Contest. Enter photos to win prizes including a trip for two to Costa Rica. Click here for the rules. Contest ends 1 November.
ONGOING CONTESTS of interest to birders
Each month the Birds & Blooms website runs the Where's Webster? contest. Find Webster the duck on the website and enter to win. Prizes vary and the contest runs month to month.
The Eagle Optics Email Contest is ongoing for anyone subscribed to their newsletter. A new winner is chosen every month. Click here for details.
Birder's Lounge runs a monthly ID Challenge. Prizes vary month to month.
T-Shirt Tuesday: Future Birder & Birdwatcher
Offspring of birders have a high probability of being birders themselves. That's not really a scientific fact, but it sure sounds logical. These t-shirts are for budding birders-to-be!
Future Birdwatcher Maternity T-Shirt
Found on CafePress
Birding expectant mothers will love this fun & cute maternity shirt that reads future birdwatcher! across the belly.
Future Birder Infant Bodysuit
Found on CafePress
Future Birders themselves can wear this adorable baby onesie.