If
you haven't been on a bird watching outing before, the following tips
will give you a good basic foundation of necessities you will need in
order to best enjoy your time in the outdoors.
Often you will
hear a bird before you see it. Learning to bird by ear is an important
part of becoming a good bird watcher. The more time you spend in the
field watching birds, the better you will become at learning to
recognize the different mating calls and vocalizations made by your
favorite birds. To hone up on your skills you can actually purchase CD
recordings of the bird calls of literally thousands of birds. Use these
to practice identifying different species by their songs and sounds.
Knowing
the types of shelter and trees that your bird species prefer is the
second key to finding their nests and setting up your stakeout. Some
prefer to build their nests close to the ground, while others will find
the topmost branches of a tree to build their home.
To have the
best chance of spotting your bird species, it's important to know what
times of the day it tends to feed. Most species prefer to start their
foraging just before sunrise and will continue up to noon. Some,
however, prefer later in the day and you'll find them just becoming
active before sunset.
The most necessary piece of equipment
you'll need is a spotting scope with a tripod. A regular telescope
won't do. You need one with the proper level of magnification. As
birding as become more and more popular, it's become easier to find
many brands of birding binoculars made specifically for bird watchers.
Articles 
