New Site for Young Birders!

I have a great deal of respect for individuals who "pay it forward" at some point in their lives. By that I mean, doing something nice or supportive for someone else just because it's the right thing to do—not because there's some big payoff in it for them. You know what I mean, right? The dad who coaches a little league team long after his own kids have left for college; the teacher who runs an after-school science club on her own time, funded out of her own pocket; the teenager who mows the elderly neighbor's lawn; people who voluntarily pick up trash in parks just because it makes things better for everyone!

I also admire companies who invest in causes that they care about. One such company is Leica Sport Optics which has invested many thousands of dollars over the past couple of decades in support of programs for young birders. Leica has co-sponsored youth birding camps, conferences, young birder teams in birding competitions, optics giveaways for young birders, and special youth-oriented events at birding festivals.


Now Leica is the sponsor of a new online resource for young birders on the Bird Watcher's Digest website simply called Young Birders. The site is designed to help beginning bird enthusiasts to have a successful start in the hobby. And it gives avid young birders a place to share their experiences, adventures, images, tweets, and blog posts with others.


Three young bird watchers are sharing their regular blog posts on the Young Birders site: Corey Husic, Kristina Polk, and Kyle Carlsen. Other resources included in the site are: a directory of young birder organizations in North America, a photo gallery, a running stream of fascinating bird facts, tips for choosing optics and a field guide, and ticker-windows showing Leica's Facebook and Twitter feeds.


The Leica Young Birders site will be streaming tweets that use the hashtag #youngbirders.

I'm so thrilled to see all the resources available to young birders today. How I wish we'd had similar opportunities for connecting and learning back when I was a young birder (in the days when dinosaurs still walked the Earth).

My sincere thanks (and much admiration) to Leica Sport Optics for their years of consistent support for the growing community of young bird watchers.

That's what I call "paying it forward!"

Caption Contest #23

Yes friends, it's time once more for a Bill of the Birds Caption Contest. Send in your clever caption (using the comments interface on this blog) by Tuesday, September 4, 2012. If your caption is selected as the overall winner, you'll receive a year's subscription to Bird Watcher's Digest.

This amazing photo was contributed by my good pal Rondeau Ric McArthur who is a past winner of the caption contest here at Bill of the Birds.

Making Your Own Black Powder

I have been hanging out lately with a bunch of guys over at Gun Slingers Gulch that shoot black powder revolvers and other firearms that use the old time real black powder.  If you shoot black powder firearms or hunt during the black powder special hunting seasons you know what the attraction is already.  Many of you may have watched the Hatfields and McCoys mini series recently and got to see a lot of black powder replica firearms in use throughout the mini series.  Anyway the cost of shooting these replicas is getting higher and higher as the price for a pound of black powder keeps spiraling upward. Fewer gun shops or box sporting goods stores carry real black powder as the powder companies are making and marketing more substitutes. Fly, brushhippie and others have been leading the way in showing many of us how to make our own black powder, cast our own lead roundballs and bring our costs down for the sport of shooting black powder firearms.   The satisfaction level of making your own cast balls and milling your own black powder only adds to the sport.  Black powder shooting is a primitive sport that brings many of us back to older simpler times when people did more with less.  I will be hunting deer this year with a handmade flintlock rifle loaded with a lead roundball I cast myself, using black powder I made and ignited by a flint I knapped out of Texas flint I picked up off the ground just as my ancestors may have done when they settled in Texas. 

This article and these videos are for educational purposes and neither Wild Ed’s Texas Outdoors, myself, gunslingersgulch.com, Fly or brushhippie assume any responsibility for this information.  It is presented for responsible adults to use as they see fit, anyone making powder or shooting black powder firearms does so at their own risk. Most of us do this outdoors and in a safe place away from others. Now that we have the legal stuff out of the way enjoy brushhippie’s videos straight out of the backwoods just for you.  Wild Ed


Making Your Own Black Powder by Brushhippie

Howdy folks I was asked by Mr. Ed to put something together about my ongoing adventures of the making of black powder. First off I suppose I would have to explain that I’m not great at being told I can’t do that..... or have that, I’m more about; well what would it take me to pull that off. So that being said I started my research by reading as much as I could about the process on the Black Powder forums, since this is where I got all the info I needed on the Black Powder revolvers I had recently purchased. What I found was folks tend to be a bit weird when you start talking about making your own powder, the recipe is there one day and gone the next as no one wants the responsibility of somebody burning themselves up by making mistakes that should be common sense, so use this information carefully and at your own risk! OK my recipe comes from a gentleman named Fly, this feller lives over in Oklahoma and his interests are based in building fireworks and Black Powder shooting so for some 30 years he and his colleagues have tested many different recipes and these are the ingredients and measurements he passed on to me saying keep it simple. There are three basic ingredients, KNO3(Potassium Nitrate), Black Willow charcoal and sulfur, these ingredients are readily available online at a number of hobby chemical companies. You will also need an inexpensive rock tumbler (available from Northern tools or Harbor freight for about 40 bucks), some sort of scale, (I use a mechanical mail type scale that couldn’t cost more than a couple of bucks) and some lead round balls (for grinding) Now what ever size batch you want to make the mix is 75% KNO3 15% charcoal and 10% sulfur, combine these chemicals with around half the capacity of your tumbler filled with LEAD roundballs, DO NOT use steel bearings or anything else that can spark....you DO NOT want a spark! You will want to grind this mix for 6 hours or so, the longer the better as grinding is basically cramming KNO3 into the carbon of the charcoal. After grinding you will need to add Dextrin which is your binder, all Dextrin is, is cornstarch baked at 350 degrees for 3 hours or so (it will turn yellow) you want to add 5% of whatever your total powder weight is, now I add the Dextrin to the tumbler and just grind it for another 15 to 20 minutes. Once you’ve got your binder mixed in pour you powder out into a strainer or use screen wire to separate your powder from the round balls, at this point I spread the powder out onto a cafeteria tray for misting with water, use a spray bottle to spray and mix in the water slowly you want enough water to ball it up in your hand but not so much that water squeezes out of it. Once you have the consistency you want take the powder and ball it up in your hand and push it through a 16 mesh screen (which is 16 holes per inch) I use a piece of screen wire stapled to an old bottomless drawer, onto newspaper and place somewhere the humidity is low. It will dry overnight and will be ready to shoot. To test the speed of your powder pour out a line say 3/4 of and inch wide and 4 inches long and light it up if it all lights up instantly its fast if it burns more like a fuse its slow, the more you do it the better you will be at it! This is simple and effective and costs WAAAY less than buying the stuff! Have fun and be safe! Good shooting and keep it safe, Brushhippie

Feel free to stop by the gulch and talk awhile.

http://gunslingersgulch.com/index.php

Brushhippie's Making Black Powder Part I

 Brushhippie's Making Black Powder II

 Hope you enjoyed brushhippie's videos.  Feel free to leave a comment. 

New Podcast: Teen Birders on Hog Island!

Dr. Sara Morris gives a banding demonstration to some of the teen birders at Hog Island Audubon Camp. Photo ©Corey Husic.

There's a new episode of my "This Birding Life" podcast: "Teen Birders on Hog Island." It features interviews with five teen birders who were part of a Joy of Birding/Coastal Maine Bird Studies session at the Hog Island Audubon Camp in late June 2012.

Young birders getting oriented on the session's first day.

Hog Island is quite an experience for nature lovers of any age. But the group of teens that shared our week in late June seemed particularly enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the natural world. It was a real treat to have them there with us.

Campers ashore on Wreck Island with instructor Tom Johnson (right) and naturalist Josh Potter (second from right).

Despite the iffy weather, somewhat rugged terrain, and boat trips on unsettles seas, the teen birders seemed to enjoy themselves immensely. After all, an island on the coast of Maine is a very interesting, unique place to spend a week. There are birds to see—including Atlantic puffins!

Atlantic puffin.

And there are others there with you at Hog Island who share your interest in birds and nature. That in itself is a very special thing.

Watching and photographing a northern parula nest with instructors Lang Elliott and Julie Zickefoose.

Give this new episode a listen. If you're a young birder (or just a young-at-heart birder) consider attending one of the excellent week-long 2013 sessions at the Hog Island Audubon Camp.


Now you know I'm also going to encourage you to take a young person birding. There are an increasing number of really excellent events designed specifically for young bird watchers, including the upcoming Mid-Atlantic Young Birders' Conference sponsored by the American Birding Association.

I'll have more news to share about encouraging young birders in the near future. Until then, I'll see you out there with the birds!

Central Texas Doves in Abundance for Now

I saw hundreds of dove west of Lampasas this last weekend with some of the electric lines just outside town covered with birds.  There are very few crops in the area so they must be feeding on Croton and wild Sunflowers.  I saw the first Eurasian and White Winged doves to stop at our place last Saturday. There has been enough moisture to grow lots of Croton and Sunflowers along with other seed producing weeds this spring but in some areas the drought is taking over.  I saw abundant dove all along the 183 corridor on the return trip to Austin.  If the food holds out and the tanks don’t dry up we might even have a decent shoot the first week of dove season.  It has been a long time since we had a good shoot on our place.  Of course it could always rain during the last few days of August and disperse the dove leaving us with just a few to hunt this year.  We will just watch and see what happens, and even if they get dispersed to other parts of the State that will be ok as we really need the rain.  Hoping you have a good season, Wild Ed

Kenai Fjords Birding Cruise Part 2

Continuing our all-day boat cruise through Kenai Fjords National Park, begun with this post from last month...

As we cruised onward to the glacier we were scheduled to visit, the wildlife we encountered both on land and in the surrounding water changed subtly. Captain Tim (shown above, standing on the bridge) gave the passengers an informative narration, pointing out interesting features of the landscape, telling us some of the history of the region, and predicting what we'd be seeing up ahead.

We saw one or two other sightseeing boats as we sailed along. It was nice to know that the captains of the various vessels share their sightings with one another. Cooperation seemed to be the rule rather than the exception, which was refreshing.

We saw several black bears and a few, more distant, browns. This large black bear just stood still and watched as we went past. His photograph was captured by at least 100 cameras, of all makes and sizes. He was close enough that cellphone cameras were sufficient. Even though I've spent thousands of hours in areas in the East where black bears are common, this was my best look ever at one.

We saw a couple of large gatherings of Steller's sea lions, including a few individuals that had been branded with numbers by wildlife officials or researchers. This large seal species inhabits the northern Pacific coastlines, but it is critically endangered having suffered huge population declines in recent decades.


Captain Tim invited Julie and me into the pilot house after he heard us calling out a lot of bird IDs. The view from up high was spectacular and it was really nice to be out of the chilly wind.


As we got nearer to the glacier the captain was in radio contact with other vessels asking where the best ice-free passage was. It was so calm and quiet deep in the narrow fjord that we could hear floating ice clunking against the boat's hull. Many Titanic jokes were made, though not by the captain and crew. We saw several large chunks of the glacier fall away and into the water—something referred to as calving.

Pigeon guillemots were easy to see, swimming, flying past, and even hitching a ride on an island of ice.

Three ducks flew past so fast and low that I couldn't get an easy ID with my binocs. I snapped a few photos with my camera, hoping that I caught the birds. I looked at my camera's playback screen, and whaddayaknow! Harlequin ducks! Sweet.

There were other birds, seen in singly and in pairs, that were hard-to-identify distant dots on the water's surface. Auklets? Murrelets? Hmmm. We'll revisit these tiny mysteries in part III of this journey.

Hit More Doves

                                 White-Winged Dove

The Texas Dove Season opener is right around the corner.  Each year around this time I try and write an article with tips that will help you become a better wing shot. After all much of the fun of a real Texas style dove hunt is being able to out shoot all your buddies and friends, right! This will be a long article and one you may wish to print and file where you can refer back to it. 

One of the biggest mistakes I see is that many hunters spend a great deal of money on their guns, a place to hunt, license and equipment and then skimp on ammunition.  I am not going to grade the different brands of dove loads but will say that some of them are not worth even shooting much less spending your hard earned money on them.  You should test some of the loads on clay birds and pattern boards.  If they kick really hard and blow confetti paper out the barrel when you shoot, don't spend your money on them.  I look for at least a 1 ounce payload of shot in a 12 gauge and a plastic wad.  If they have a 1 1/8 ounce load of shot even better, save the 7/8 ounce 12 gauge loads for cheap practice sessions.  If you look in the back of my truck you will most likely see Estate, Federal or at least Remington Shurshot loads for dove because I have confidence in these loads.  I do not get any ammo for free or any special deals, so I pay hard earned cash for my shells just like you do.  Shotshells designed for shooting Sporting clays are more often than not a really good choice of shot shell for dove hunting.  I find I just do not shoot as well with the 7/8 ounce super special price box store loads and they seem to have lots of holes in the patterns.  I very seldom have a box of shells in my truck that actually are labeled Dove Load, unless I have a bunch of kids just learning to shoot and I want to get them familiar with shooting and gun handling with the cheapest shells I can find, or I am hunting over a brushy or tree covered tank where the shooting is close. Test some different brands and loads before the season and find the brand and shells that you break the most targets with. Opening day is not the place to find out your bargain confetti blasting shells throw patterns that a turkey could fly through. 

Remember that recoil is not your friend.  The best shooters in the clay shooting sports are not shooting high brass magnum loads and they are not needed in most Dove hunting situations.  Shoot a load that is comfortable to shoot in hot weather clothing as wherever you are in Texas the September season is usually very hot.

                                 Eurasian Collared Dove

This statement is to all my hunting buddies across this great State of Texas along with those that have attended one of my shooting seminars or classes.  Remember shoot to miss in front and stay focused.  If you miss, do something different.  If you miss the first time and don't change your lead or swing speed you will miss the next shot.  Most importantly if you are going on a hunt and need a shooting buddy don't forget to call Wild Ed.

                                 Mourning Dove

I spent many years shooting competitive Sporting Clays and also as a National Sporting Clays Association Level II gunning instructor teaching others to hit more targets. I have helped lots of shooters to improve their shooting techniques and skills. In the following section I want to give you some tips to make you a better wing shot and to help you have more fun in the field. Dove hunts in Texas are often a social event and a chance to be among friends. It is always more fun if you can hit your targets.  Here are a few ways that can help you drop more dove with fewer shells fired per bird.

1. Practice: Do not just go out and blast away, have someone that is a better shooter than you watch your style and help you along. A professional lesson or two are well worth the investment.  Don't take advice from someone that you can out shoot, as most of the time it will not help you in becoming a better shooter.  If you have no one to help you, get a good video or book to help you along. Practice your mount in front of a mirror until you become smooth and fluid.  When you drop a bird freeze what you did in your mind so that you can repeat it.  Always remember speed is not fast, smooth is fast.

2. Focus: Learn to focus on the eye of the bird or front of the target. Too many people focus on the whole target or on bird’s tails as they are easily seen. Have you ever shot at a bird and it leaves a trail of floating tail feathers. I wonder why? Focus on the head or eye of the bird; I have had people call me when they see a dove blink for the first time. It will happen if you focus on the eyes or beak of the bird and you will be amazed as your bird count goes up. 

3. Mount on the target or just in front: Many people practice the old style of pass through shooting where they come from behind the target and try to brush it out of the sky. No one with this method wins major competitions anymore.  Most people that come from behind a target never catch up and shoot behind most of their targets.Your shot string is approximately six foot long, if the first pellet in the string goes behind the target guess where the rest of them go? If half of the shot string goes in front of the target you still get a kill. What does all this mean? It means you should always mount in front of the target and never get behind it in your swing and follow through. Shoot to miss in front of the bird and watch the dove start hitting the ground.

4. Move, Mount, Shoot: This phrase should be engraved in your mind. Move with the flight of the bird. This means move the gun with the flight of the bird in the ready to mount position (NOT MOUNTED) when the bird reaches the area where you wish to shoot simply mount the gun on the front of the bird, pull out in front of the target and pull the trigger. I see hunters every year that spot a dove coming in from a long way off and mount the gun and track the bird, shoot and miss. Yet when someone yells BIRD and they look up, see the bird, mount and shoot in one fluid smooth motion, they crush it. If you track the bird you will almost always try to aim and miss the bird.

5. Do Not Aim: The bead on a shotgun is not to aim with unless you hunt turkeys or shoot slugs. Compare it to the hood ornament on a car; it is simply there for your subconscious to know you are on target. Focus only on the target so you can swing smoothly and stay in front of the target. If you feel like your swing is jerky in movement it means you are changing focus from the target to the front bead and back to the target. A shotgun swing is not jerky, only your focus back and forth. This is one of the most important tips I can give you. Consider the shotgun bead the "miss me bead" and stay focused on the front of the bird not the bead.

Remember that most misses are behind so increase your lead if you are not connecting on previous shots. If you are missing don't keep shooting the same way. Change the amount of lead, choke or swing but change something. If you miss the first shot and do the same thing on the second shot you will miss it also.

All of the above tips will help you be a better shot but there are also other tools and methods that you can use to bring the dove in closer to you and that will help you get more shots at those flighty dove.

Clothing: White or bright clothing is definitely out as it will scare the birds. Camo or dark earth tones that will match the terrain you are hunting in. As it is super hot this time of year remember to keep the clothing light in weight for coolness. Put on a good insect repellent as ticks and chiggers are out in force this time of year.

Decoys: I often carry a few plastic decoys that clip on to tree limbs or barbwire fences. It is amazing how many dove coming down a field will fly by and check the decoys. The new decoys with the moving wings are very effective in drawing dove within range.

Eye Wear: During the early and late shooting hours I like to wear amber, brown or rose colored shooting lenses as the contrast gives me better target acquisition. During the bright part of the day I wear dark brown, green or smoke lens colors to kill the glare.  Shooting glasses can also save your eyes from powder burns, brush and the hunter that peppers you with shot.  I never hunt or shoot without them. 

Choke Choice: Unless you are shooting high flying pass over doves you should leave the modified and full chokes in the case. Improved cylinder will help most hunters increase the number of birds in the game bag. If I am sitting at a small tank or a feeding area I will often shoot a skeet or cylinder choke for the more open pattern.

Shot size: I carry at least two sizes with me to change the density and distance. I mostly shoot 8 shot as it has good distance and a dense pattern without many holes. If I need to extend my distance just a bit I will use 7 ½ shot. The pattern has a few more holes in it but it will get me another 10 yards of kill distance.  You can also extend your distance a little farther with 8 shot by going to a modified or improved modified choke.

Barrel length: I am a fan of longer shotgun barrels as I find it is harder to mess up a good swing and most shooters follow through better with a long barrel. A short barrel tends to increase poking or spot shooting and makes it very easy to stop your follow through swing. Remember to insert the barrel in front of the bird pull out and shoot while keeping the gun moving until the target falls. Follow through is very important and hard to maintain with short barrels.

Hydration: The temperatures this time of year can be extremely hot so drink lots of water or sport drinks. Keep the alcoholic beverages locked away until after the guns are cased for the day. Don’t forget to keep fluids in your canine buddy as dogs can get heat stressed easily this time of year.

I don’t want to be a person that harps about safety, but in teaching Shotgunning classes and hunting for over 50 years I have seen two shotguns discharged accidentally. As far as we could tell both were mechanical failures and not caused by the shooter. In both cases no one was hurt because those involved were safe gun handlers and always made sure their guns were pointed in a safe direction. I have also seen several bird hunters peppered by shot from other hunters that could have been deadly at a closer range. I have a friend that lost a nephew in an instant when he stood up in front of another hunter as ducks came in and was shot at close range. These instances have let me know just how quick a life could be taken. Just a reminder to always point your firearm in a safe direction, make sure of your firing lanes and know where the other hunters in your group are at all times. Last never bet your life on a mechanical safety device.  Don't get in the habit of clicking the safety off everytime you see a bird, just slip it off as you mount to fire.

Be safe and have a great hunt, Wild Ed

North Zone:


Regular Season Sept. 1-Oct. 24, 2012 and

Dec. 22, 2012-Jan. 6, 2013

Central Zone:

Regular Season Sept. 1-Oct. 24, 2012 and

Dec. 22, 2012-Jan. 6, 2013

South Zone:

Regular Season Sept. 21-Oct. 28, 2012 and

Dec. 22, 2012-Jan. 22, 2013

Special White-winged Dove Area:

Note: The dates are distinct from the rest of the South Zone

Special Season

(Legal shooting hours are noon to sunset) Sept. 1-2 and Sept. 8-9, 2012

Regular Season Sept. 21-Oct. 28, 2012 and

Dec. 22, 2012-Jan. 18, 2013

Bag Limits Each Zone:  15 per day, 30 possession  Check with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for updates and season changes.