Bird-Watching

Bird-Watching

Birds are among the easiest animals to spot study from your home or school. To see a wider range of species (kinds), you could try bird-watching in a local park, pond, or woodland area. Always take an adult with you . Birds are shy creatures with sharp eyesight and hearing. They are always on the lookout for enemies , so keep very quiet and still when bird- watching . If you make yourself a hide, like the one shown, bird-watching will be much easier.

You will need:

Binoculars, eight short canes, string, scissors, canvas or tarpaulin, saftey pins, four tent pegs, leaves and twigs, lightweight binoculars.

Using binaculars

1. Lightweight binaculars are very useful on bird-watching trips. Remove them from the case, and hang them around your neck so you are ready to use them.

2. When you see a bird, do not look down , or you may losr sight of it. Keep watching it, and slowly raise the binaculars to your eyes. Try to avoid sudden movements.

3. Now adjust the focusing wheel on your binaculars, to bring the bird into focus . you may find the difficult to do at first, but it will become easier with practice.

Build a hide

1. You will need a friend to help you. Lay four canes on the ground in a square. Tie the ends with string. Make another square the same size, to form the roof.

2. Get your friend to stand inside the base . Your friend should hold the roof in position , while you tie four long canes to the base and roof to form the sides.

3. Now srengthen the structure of you hide. Add two long canes to make cross-pieces on opposite sides of the hide . Tie the canes in place with a piece of sring.

4. Drape your hide with the canvas or tarpaulin. Add a smaller Piece for the roof. Fasten the edges with safety pins. For extra secuirity, fix the base to the ground with tent pegs.

5. Now cover the cloth with some leaves and twigs. These will camouflage your hide, so that it will blend in with the woods and will be less abvious to birds.

6. Once inside the hide , look out throughthe gaps in the seams, between the safety pins. Try using your binaculars. Keep still and quiet, and birds will soon approach.

A teepee is another, simoler kind of hide. You will need four to six canes, string, a Trapaulin, safety pins and may be tent pegs . Fan the canes to form a pyramid shape, and tie the top ends with string. Drape the tarpaulin over this, and fasten it with safety pins.