Greensboro Birds is a chronicle of birdwatching in the Piedmont Triad region of North Carolina. At first I was birding primarily in and around Guilford Courthouse National Military Park and Country Park. We recently bought our very first house in a small town just north of Greensboro. Even though we’re in town, the house is on the end of a very private street, and the yard is bordered by tall trees and brushy undergrowth; we also own a tiny bit of rare in-town forest adjacent to the house—perfect for birding. After a couple decades of birding on an apartment balcony, this feels like the Garden of Eden!
How it began. A lifelong birder, I fell out of the major birding loop during a decade in New York City, so I decided to get back in the game when we moved to Greensboro. (I did, however, count birds for Project FeederWatch in Brooklyn, where I saw my very first Ruby-crowned Kinglet—on our fire escape!) In the summer of 2006, I hung a small birdfeeder on the balcony. It was your basic inexpensive feeder with a few small perches and holes for the birds to grab sunflower seeds. Not many birds visited that feeder, so I bought a hanging platform feeder, suspecting it would attract a wider variety of birds (well, any birds at all!). Sure enough, the very next day a bright red Northern Cardinal dropped in, then a Tufted Titmouse, then a Carolina Chickadee, and on and on.
I work from home as a freelance editor, and my desk faces the feeders so I can see all the action. The first bird photos and stories were posted on my personal blog, but they were so fun to write that I decided to transfer them to my first birds-only blog using the free Blogger platform. It wasn’t long before I wanted to add more pages and features that Blogger doesn’t offer, so in January 2007 I launched this site, where I can spread out in many directions. My goal is to create a fun and useful place for bird lovers in the Triad and beyond.
About the Photography. I shoot all of my photographs with a Canon PowerShot S2 IS and a Raynox DCR-2020PRO 2.2 telephoto conversion lens, which I highly recommend for the average birder. The S2 features a 12x optical zoom that’s great for getting close-up shots with minimal graininess. For even closer images—and if I’m not using the telephoto lens—I use its 4x digital zoom for a max 48x zoom. Digital zoom adds graininess, but sometimes that’s the only way to capture those elusive birds. Occasionally, if I just can’t get a photo of a bird that we see frequently, I use purchased stock photography, which I credit accordingly. Please ask me before using any of my photos, and of course don’t hotlink them and use up my bandwidth.
I love hearing other people’s comments and birding stories. Feel free to add your two cents either on the site or via email (greensborobirds@gmail.com). All comments are moderated so we aren’t clobbered with spam or uncivilized discourse. If you want to share your photos of Triad-area birds on the site, send them to the email above. I can’t see all the birds myself, after all!
Happy Birding!
Iris
GreensboroBirds @ gmail.com
