Last week was the launch of a new birding site called Birding New Brunswick, at BirdingNewBrunswick.ning.com. It’s a social network for bird enthusiasts. You can post pictures, video, ask the group questions, promote your favourite birding area, blog, post nature related events, chat and report sightings. You are automatically given your own page, with photo album, blog postings and more.
If your Facebook friends are saying, "enough with the birds already", sign up, nobody in this group will complain. I think a site like this is needed to get (and keep) young people involved. When I mentioned this to one geezer he said, “Social networking? Nobody will ever do that.” I said, “Come on Dad, get with the times.” (He doesn’t read my column either.) Sixty years from now, I want the guy changing my diaper to be interested enough in birds to fill the window feeder for me.
Oh yes, it's free, no gimmick that I can tell and there are no advertisements, so I’m not constantly reminded of my “shortcomings”.
I’m a member of a very similar site from the States called WeLoveBirds, this was a spin off of from one of the subscriptions I bought when I was researching hummingbird nectar. It was started by the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, it was fun to go on and check out the question and answer section, many consist of a photo and the question, “What bird is this?” It’s a good challenge to see how many you can answer, but the problem is the site is for all of the States and a lot of the questions were coming from the west, birds that I’ve never seen and know nothing about. So when I saw a similar site for New Brunswick I was quite excited, then the first question came across and it was a picture of ducks taken in North Carolina. Oh well, I’m sure that will change soon.
There’s already one special interest group, the NB ODONATA GROUP, for members with a special interest in dragonflies and damselflies. If you have any questions or pictures it’s a great opportunity to ask Denis Doucet, one of the provinces leading authorities on the subject has volunteered to edit the blog and field questions.
BirdingNewBrunswick should turn up some interesting sightings, I know since I started this column there have been a few firsts that were sent to me that may have gone unreported otherwise. For example the first Laughing Gull at Cape Enrage or the first nesting Peregrine Falcons on the Assumption Building in Moncton. (Both are pictured and discussed already on BirdingNewBrunswick.) That’s the thing, you never know what will be turned up next, in the age where everyone has a camera on them all the time. You may have a picture of a Starling or it may be a first for the province.
So instead of surfing around the US site I’ll be spending my time checking out the beautiful pictures that were taken in my own province, at least I recognize most of the bird pictures. Dragons and damsels interest me, especially the pictures, but I can identify only about 4 of our species so far.
That’s the thing about birds, they seem to be the universal draw, I started hanging out with other bird people who also had and interest in dragonflies, butterfllies, wild flowers, mushrooms and more. We all came for the birds (at least I did), but others would be pointing out other interesting aspects of nature, eventually it starts to rub off. If I live to be very old, I may become a well rounded naturalist.
I picked up a little about mushrooms, there are still only 3 species that I will pick and eat. But, this is shaggy mane season and one of my all time favourite meals is “Cream of Shaggy” soup. I can’t stress enough the importance of knowing what you’re doing. You can’t go to a half hour presentation, pick a mushroom and say, “Yeah, that looks like the one.” You’ve heard the expression, “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing”, well that was coined by a liver transplant surgeon after a guy ate the wrong mushroom.
OK, you caught me, the saying was around before they were doing liver transplants, but you get the point.
Once you’ve done all the tests and your sure you have shaggy manes, pick them before they open, after they open the spores will blacken you soup, I still eat it but it doesn’t look as good. Dice and cook the mushrooms with garlic and onions, add them to diced cooked potatoes, I leave the potato water for thickener, it drives my mother nuts but it works. Then add cream, the good stuff, at least 18% fat. You can add corn if you like, once I dumped in a bottle of bar clams. It’s quick and delicious.
I love feeding this to the in-laws, while I’m cooking it I make comments like, “This one doesn’t look like the rest.” or “No dear, I don’t think that’s the destroying angle.” When you call them to the table, don’t touch your spoon, leave your hand folded on your lap, give them your best evil smile and tell them to go ahead and try it. I guarantee, nobody’s touching that soup until you take a bite.
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