The Birdstack Blog

The Birds of the Equinox: March 2009 compilation has been posted! Enjoy.

And mark your calendars for June 21, the solstice.

It’s here: Birds of the Solstice: December 2008! Birders from around the world participated in this inaugural event. There’s lots of great stuff to explore, so we hope this will be some happy holiday weekend reading for you, wherever you may be.

We’re planning to do this again 20 March 2009 — Birds of the Equinox this time — so stay tuned.

Happy New Year!

Twelve hours have passed since solstice, so the official observation period for Birds of the Solstice has ended. Now it’s time to gather your notes, record your observations, sort your photos, and compose your thoughts and poems!

It’s Birds of the Solstice time! You still have 19 hours to go birding and participate in the very first installment of this international birding event. Reports have already started trickling in from the eastern hemisphere, where it is currently daytime. The timetable, ideas, and submission guidelines are here. You have until 26 December to compose all of your lists, notes, photo albums, etc. and send them to our editorial team at solar-birding@birdstack.com.

We’re looking forward to hearing from you!

Birds of the Solstice is a project to document birdlife around the world during the December solstice, which is this Sunday — 21 December at 12:04 p.m. UCT (that’s 7:04 a.m. in New York and 11:04 p.m. in Sydney). We want to hear from you, wherever you are that day! Here’s how.

Depending on your cultural outlook, solstice marks either the beginning or the midpoint of a season. Depending on your hemisphere, that season is either winter or summer.

It’s an excellent time to stop and reflect on the birds around you. For me, few things say “winter” as eloquently as the burry call of a chickadee on cold, frosty air.

At some point within 12 hours either side of the solstice, go birding — even if it’s just by looking out your window for 10 minutes. Record your observations in a trip on Birdstack. Take pictures. Blog your thoughts. Here are more ideas, an official timetable for participation, and the rules.

There are Birdstackers on six continents, and we’d love to have participation from Tasmania to Finland and from Capetown to Gujarat. By December 31, we’ll post a compilation page with your observations, pictures, and thoughts.

If you would like to promote Birds of the Solstice on your blog, you can copy and paste either of these code snippets:

Banner (500px by 110px):
<a href="http://birdstack.com/solar-birding"><img src="http://birdstack.com/images/solstice-banner.jpg" alt="Birds of the Solstice" title="Birds of the Solstice, a Birdstack community project" /></a>

or

Button (165px by 165px):
<a href="http://birdstack.com/solar-birding"><img src="http://birdstack.com/images/solstice-button.jpg" alt="Birds of the Solstice" title="Birds of the Solstice, a Birdstack community project" /></a>

Good birding!

So, what do you wear when you go birding? Like me, do you have favorite shirts that depict special birds or commemorate places you’ve been? Well, we’ve got some new ideas for your wardrobe!

We’ve just opened the Birdstack store, where you can find T-shirts and other goodies:

We’re starting off with two designs, both shown above.

One features the Birdstack logo and Web address. Show off your Birdstack pride and help spread the word about the Birdstack service with a genuine Birdstack tee! We’re not sure, but we think birds themselves are attracted to the Birdstack logo, so wearing Birdstack apparel in the field may increase your birding success. (Or maybe not, but can you really afford to take that chance?)

The second design is called “birder’s lingo” because it features several dozen of our odd, geeky, and fun expressions: pish, empid, warbler neck, crippler, sibe, and birdo to name a few. Oh, and let’s not forget acronyms like LBJ and BIGBY! Preliminary results indicate that wearing this design increases the success rate of first dates by up to 50 percent!

Dozens of style and color combinations are possible. You’re sure to find something that suits your taste … and remember, Christmas is coming. Any birders on your list? I bet there are….

We also have both designs available on canvas tote bags. Did you know that billions (yes, billions) of plastic bags are discarded each year? Far too many of them end up in places they shouldn’t; plus, it’s just a foolish waste of resources that aren’t going to last forever. Well, there’s something you can do about it. Take one (or two!) of our bags along on your next trip to the store.

And this isn’t just for our American friends. Printfection, the company we’ve selected, ships to many countries around the world. And hey, if you make your money in pounds or euros, this is a good time to buy goods priced in US dollars….

If you’re still not convinced, I’ll just close by mentioning that every sale in the Birdstack store generates a small amount of income to help keep the site running smoothly and to support the development of new features. Thank you for your support!

Have fun with the shirts. When you get one, put it on and take a picture. If you send it in, we’ll post it!

We’re guessing that some of you Birdstackers also use Facebook®, a very popular social networking site. We’ve just set up a Birdstack page on Facebook, so look us up and show your Birdstack pride by becoming a “fan”!

Just type “Birdstack” into the search box when you’re logged in to Facebook, or click on the badge below:

You can add photos or videos (we know you’ve got some lovely bird shots), chat with other Birdstackers, and keep up with the latest Birdstack news. See ya there!