fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
Yearn Loans Finance — How to use YlFi early staking platform
By: Yearn Loans Finance
Tags: Defi, Eth, Staking, Farming, Crypto

YlFi | Yearn Loans Finance

1. Go to the website https://yloans.finance/ Click the Stake Now button

2. On the Stake tab, connect the wallet, click the “Unlock Wallet” button

3. Use the metamask extension in google chrome to connect the wallet. After connecting the place of the “Unlock Wallet” button you will see the address of your wallet.

4. In the input field, specify the number of YlFi you want to add to staking.

5. Choose a staking period. There are 3 options, 30 days — 8%, 60 days — 18%, 90 days — 30%. The more the number of days, the higher the percentage you will receive.

6. After selecting the period and the number of tokens, click “Approve”. Confirm the action in metamask.

7. After your transaction is submitted, click “Stake”.

8. After confirming your transactions, you will see a counter until the end of the staking period.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

🚀YlFi TOKENOMICS

💎Total Supply: 3845 YlFi🎄

⭐️Circulating Supply: 2145 YlFi🎄

💰Public sale: 1845 YlFi

🌈Marketing: 500 YlFi

🎁Staking contract locked: 1000 YlFi

🦄Liquidity Exchange: 300 YlFi (locked for a year)

💼Team reserve : 200 YlFi (Locked for 6 Months)

⭐️Token Symbol: YlFi

🔘Token Decimals: 18

⚙️Contract Address: 0x186af393bf9ceef31ce7eae2b468c46231163cc7

⚠️🚧 Important Note: Do not send ETH to YlFi Contract address.🚧⚠️

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

🔥Platform early staking launched🚀

🎁1000 YlFi locked on the contract staking⚙️

🌈https://yloans.finance/stake

💎APY: 96% — 120% Yearly

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Info Tools

🦄Trade YlFi Uniswap

⭐️Uniswap Liquidity Locked Proof

🚜 Staking Smart Contract

🍀Hotbit Proof

🔼 DEXTOOL

🔼 CoinMarketCap

🔼 CoinGecko soon

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Social Links

🌏Official Website: https://yloans.finance

🌏 Staking: https://yloans.finance/stake

🌏Whitepaper: https://yloans.finance/whitepaper.pdf

🌏Twitter: https://twitter.com/Yearn_Loans_Fin

🌏Github: https://github.com/YlFi

🌏Email: support@yloans.finance

🌏Telegram Community: https://t.me/Yearn_Loans_Finance_YlFi_Chat

🌏Telegram Announcement: https://t.me/Yearn_Loans_Finance_YlFi
Going the Extra Mile (Nov. 2020)
By: Cybermiles Official
Tags: Bitcoin, Eth, Cryptocurrency, Btc

Welcome to CyberMiles Foundation’s monthly newsletter #35

Greetings, CyberMilers. More exciting news is coming!

1. CyberMiles Japanese Community Event Participants win gifts

CyberMiles Japanese CMT holders win T-shirts, smartphone supporters and other gifts.

2. CyberMiles Community Bet Result Declaration on Presidential Election is delayed

Due to the fact that Trump is not receding, the CyberMiles Foundation will delay the declaration of election result until the electoral college vote result comes out on Dec. 14th.

If either side recede before 14th, the bet will be declared accordingly and the winners will divide all the non-winner’s CMT.

3. The Chinese version of “Building Blockchain Apps” is published

The Chinese version of Dr. Michael Yuan’s new book “Building Blockchain Apps” has been fully launched on Dangdang and JD.com! Go to search “Blockchain Application Development Actual Combat”, look for the author and Machinery Industry Press.

Purchase Link: https://www.openbay.io/building-blockchain-apps/listing/0xdf49476d81b829e22e8d5afee2a312899a4ad996

4. Did not know #CyberMiles has had a mainnet swap? Don’t worry, your CMTs are not lost!

Here is how to import your CMT from ERC20 wallet to a CMT address in CyberMiles App!

Details: https://blog.cybermiles.io/post/20190627-import-erc-20-cmts-en/

Thanks for your support, CyberMilers! Help us spread the word, won’t you?

Have questions? Anything that you want to see included in our next newsletter? Email furao@cybermiles.io.

To learn more, visit cybermiles.io. To follow or join our online communities, go to:

Facebook

Github

Medium

Telegram

Toutiao

Twitter

Weibo

Also, find CMT on the following exchanges and platforms:
The next Innovation in DeFi
Tags: Defi, Eth, Btc

The next Innovation in DeFi

Since 2017 the team behind FantasyGold has continued to lead in the advancement of blockchain technology. We are excited to introduce BlingFinance to the DeFi ecosytem.

DeFi is quickly growing up. As many projects have already come and gone, the hype we saw this summer is settling down nicely. As everyone gets accustomed with all possibilities DeFi brings to the table, new innovations set in. We’re entering a stage of development, new ideas and even more possibilities to come to light.

One of the main issues with swap trading on AMM’s (Automated Market Makers) for instance, are the high ETH gas fees involved. With the exponential growth we’ve seen in the DeFi sector, ETH gas fees have also increased. The complexity of AMM exchanges requires many transactions to do multiple hops through smart contracts and can sometimes create situations where the costs of executing the trade are unprofitable.

While there’s not much that can be done directly to change these costs of doing business on Ethereum, BlingFinance came up with a solution to go around them through an alternate blockchain.

BlingSwap

BlingSwap is a decentralized AMM exchange that is currently being worked on the Ethereum rinkeby testnet. It’s already available to the public: https://bling.network do keep in mind though that not all functions are fully enabled yet. The team behind Bling is planning to port or bridge BlingSwap from the Ethereum blockchain to the FantasyGold Core (FGC) blockchain, basically serving two blockchains at the same time.

Traders on BlingSwap will essentially have the option to choose whether to conduct their usual business on Ethereum or FGC. The latter providing the same services and possibilities, but at a fraction of the cost. A simple “wrap on, wrap off” principle will be executed on Ethereum which you still need to pay gas for in ETH, but in between those two, all transactions you perform on the FGC chain will be virtually free of charge. Saving heavy traders, farmers etc a hefty sum in gas fees.

When people think about innovation, they think of huge, world changing ideas that one can only dream of. Innovation is mostly happening though by tackling one small issue at a time. While a simple cost-cutting idea might not seem like a very juicy story, it could very well be just the first step towards a new cross-chain trading environment. A whole new world…

Learn More: https://github.com/FantasyGold/BlingFinance-Intro/blob/main/BlingFinance_Intro.pdf

Update: BlingFinance Public Sale is LIVE…Get your $BLING now on Bounce.Finance
🚀 Bling Contest. Join and win up to 0.2 BTC plus $10.000 in tokens!💰
Tags: Bling, Cryptocurrency, Eth, Contests And Giveaways, Btc

🚀 Bling Contest. Join and win up to 0.2 BTC plus $10.000 in tokens!💰 Crypto_MD ·Dec 6, 2020

📃 BlingFinance is a DeFi protocol now live on Rinkeby testnet

💰 Reward : 0.2 BTC & $10.000 in BLING Token

❗️ To be listed on Exchange

👇🏻Join and win👇🏻

https://bit.ly/3geqwm6

⚠️Step by Step Guide:

1. Open Airdrop Link

2. Submit Email,ETH Wallet & BTC Wallet.

3. Confirm Email (Mandatory)

4. Join Telegram

5. Follow All social media task

✅DONE✅

📝NOTE:

This contest lasts for two months. The winners will be announced in February. The rewards will be distributed by the end of February.
DO THIS ASAP!
Tags: Loot, Eth, Bitcoin, Airdrop, Simpleairdrop

DO THIS ASAP!

https://bounty-bling.network/r/Zf4Wd7wpR0Cu7od



BLING Community lottery!

Win up to $3,000 in Tokens and 0.1 BTC to get Started on BLING Network. Be quick!

1. Verify mail and signup

3. Give your eth and btc address to receive reward if you get lucky

2. Complete the social media tasks (easy) takes 2 minutes only ;)
CoinTiger Announcement of Launching ETH 2.0 One Click Stake Function
Tags: Cointiger, Cryptocurrency, Eth

Fellow CoinTiger Users,

CoinTiger will support ETH2.0 proof-of-stake and will launch ETH2.0 one click function. With this function, you can pledge ETH as BETH with one click and participate in ETH 2.0 proof-of-stake mining. CoinTiger will open BETH’s transaction soon.

How to participate?

APP：Login CoinTiger APP, click the function button or click the banner on the homepage to participate.

Rules of ETH 2.0 One Click Stake Function:

1. Revenue calculation starts from: 18:00, December 5th, 2020 (UTC+8)

2.The Ration: 1 ETH : 1 BETH

3. BETH Price: Before the opening of BETH trading, there is no specific price for BETH. CoinTiger will open at any opportunity according to the pledge situation. CoinTiger will open BETH’s transaction at any opportunity according to the pledge status.

4. Minimum: 0.01 ETH

5. The Staking Income: BETH gains on ETH 2.0 pledge chain. It is estimated that the annualized rate of return is between 6% and 20%, The final income is subject to the actual receipt.

6. Revenue Distribution: The revenue will be distributed into exchange accounts on the T+1 day. If the ETH Beacon chain is abnormal, the revenue distribution shall be subject to the actual situation on the chain(The revenue before December 8, 2020 (UTC+8) will be issued on December 9, 2020).

7. Note: Based on ETH 2.0 chain rules, ETH pledge is a one-way operation and cannot be retrieved.

8. Risk of Forfeiture: ETH 2.0 pledge carries a forfeiture of BETH risk. The risk is assumed by CoinTiger and the user does not have to pay.

Notes of ETH 2.0:

1. ETH will be converted to BETH, and the Staking ETH will be locked in the smart contract, and retrieval is not supported.

2. Since ETH2.0 Phase 0 does not support transfer operations, BETH cannot be withdrawn. The deposit and withdrawal time is based on the development progress of ETH2.0, which is expected to be 1–2 years.

What is BETH (Beacon ETH)?

Beacon ETH (BETH) is a new asset used solely by stakers (‘validators’) on the beacon chain. It is created via two methods: 1) as a reward for validating the beacon chain (and shards, after Phase 1), and 2) BETH can be purchased for 1 ETH by any ETH1. X user via an ETH1.

ETH 2.0 Staking in the Chain:

https://launchpad.ethereum.org/

Risk warning: Crypto-currency investment is subject to high market risk. Please make your investments cautiously. CoinTiger will make best efforts to choose high quality coins, but will not be responsible for your investment losses.

CoinTiger team

2020/12/5

【Download for Android】

【Download for iOS】
More than 1 M ETH received on the Ethereum 2.0 Deposit Contract
By: Bitxmi Pte Ltd
Tags: Eth2, Ethereum, Cryptocurrency News, Eth, Crypto

Kataryna Habeliia December 4, 2020

www.bitxmi.com

More than 1 million ETH received on the Ethereum 2.0 deposit contract

Users contributed more than 1 million ETH to the deposit contract of the second version of the Ethereum protocol.

At the time of writing, the balance of the corresponding address is 1,000,130 ETH, which is equivalent to $ 603 million at current exchange rates.

The deposit contract allows you to send ETH from the existing network to ETH2, confirming the powers of the stakers.

The ecosystem of the new version of Ethereum has more than 23 thousand active validators, the participation rate is 97.59%, according to Eth2 Rewards Bot.

According to Staking Rewards, the annual current annualized return on ETH2 staking is around 16.5%.

As planned, the launch of Ethereum 2.0 phase zero took place on December 1.

Read more about the new system, features of the current Beacon Chain phase, and the future stages of ETH2 development in our article.
on curious curlews… | travel, travails and heck… ….
By: Parth Joshi
Tags: Birds, Birding, Nature Photography, Nature Writing, Bird Watching

curlews looks rather ungainly at first sight… standing still, they elicit comparison with herons and storks who seem more graceful… even the dawdling duck seems quite assured in its demeanour compared to curlews… and it isn’t long before one pinpoints it to the knee, the ‘thick-knee’ that marks its disparate gait, and lends it its common name…

thus I surmised watching Great stone-curlews through the bins as they stood looking rather glum on the banks of Chambal, both feet planted firmly on the ground unlike the unipedal elegance of herons or some other waders… they resembled a fidgety teen, moving around rather dazed and confused, with stooped shoulders and inquisitive eyes…

which brings us to the eyes… large and bulging, revealing the bird’s preference for nocturnal realms… they seem curious, like a child who’s piqued by new surroundings, and are further accentuated by black eyestripes and a thickish bill that add to the gawkiness of the creature… avifauna is often considered poetry in motion, but there are some dull limericks every now and then…

there is nothing overtly remarkable about curlews in terms of behaviour… feeding on insects small reptiles and seeds, they hunt through sudden, short runs, preferring the twilight and dusk over the day… maybe ’tis their crepuscular nature that makes them look ungainly during the day, when they simply laze around, preferring to slink away on foot rather than taking flight even when threatened… dusk might reveal another personality, who knows…

despite all the ordinariness, curlews delight with their naivety… their jerky movements are as lethal as the effortless swoops of raptors if one looks at the business end of things, and the stout disposition makes for a gritty and resolute manner… birds have a pensiveness around them that brings a sobriety to one’s views on existence, yet sometimes they only compel us to be blasé…

musings on Great stone-curlew (Esacus recurvirostris), Chambal, Uttar Pradesh
Fall Bird Watching Is Here
Tags: Bird Photography, Nature, Birds, Birding

Welcome back. Time is going by quickly and we are once again approaching the official beginning to the bird watching season. By that I mean that Project FeederWatch begins November 14th. For those of you not familiar, Project FeederWatch is a citizen science project that involves identifying and counting birds 2 days per week through early April.

Project FeederWatch is operated by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Birds Canada. Since 2016, Project FeederWatch has also been sponsored by Wild Bird Unlimited.

From the Project FeederWatch website: What sets FeederWatch apart from other monitoring programs is the detailed picture that FeederWatch data provide about weekly changes in bird distribution and abundance across the United States and Canada. Importantly, FeederWatch data tell us where birds are as well as where they are not . This crucial information enables scientists to piece together the most accurate population maps.

For more information, I am sharing the following video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6kSheOGnKM&t=4s

This is a great family activity, and given the current pandemic, it will be a safe activity for families this Fall and Winter. So join today to ensure a Winter of enjoyment with your family.

This Fall we have been enjoying young Cardinals and Blue Jays in our yard. We normally don’t have these birds nesting right in our yard. We do typically have house sparrows and finches nesting, along with tree swallows and robins. Our yard is only an acre and a quarter, however, we are surrounded by farm fields and we do have trees bordering our yard. We also have abundant fruit, shrubbery, and a pond. So we really do have an ideal yard to promote bird nesting.

Following are some photos to perhaps encourage you to enjoy bird watching if you don’t already. It is a great hobby and is very relaxing as well.

Juvenile Female Cardinal

Juvenile Male Cardinal

Male and Female Juvenile Cardinals

Juvenile Blue Jay

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Birds Canada each have a live bird cam. For you enjoyment I have included the links below. They are very enjoyable to watch, and the geographic locations provide a wide variety in bird species, since the Cornell cam is in Central NY State, the Birds Canada cam is located in Ontario, Canada.

Cornell Lab Bird Cam

Birds Canada Bird Cam
The Virus, Day 286, Dimondale, Michigan
By: Sexy Hermit
Tags: Michigan, Christmas, Birds, Love, Life

A hawk on the bird feeder! Never saw this before. This was on Christmas eve. Just felt like posting it now. He was cool! Love birds.

Be well!
今週の野鳥写真
Tags: 写真, Photography, Birds, Birding, 野鳥

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Bird Feeder 101/Bird Photos
Tags: Photos, Photography, Birds, Birding, Bird Watching

Welcome back. In my last post I introduced Project FeederWatch which begins on November 14th. If you haven’t signed up yet, there is still time. You may not receive your membership materials in time, but you can still count birds, then enter the data once your receive your membership kit which includes an ID number needed to log in. For more information click the link above or see my featured post in the right hand margin from last week.

In this post I will begin a series of posts regarding feeders with information about platform bird feeders. I have 3 feeding stations in my yard, each of which contain different types of feeders. If you are new to bird watching, one feeder is fine if you want to keep things simple.

For your convenience, I will include links for platform feeders to purchase if you choose, or to get an idea of what to purchase. Just click on the green links labelled platform feeder. Also, check out the eBay banners to the right for more platform feeder choices and also for suet feeders..

The feeder I use most often for capturing photos is the platform feeder right outside my family room window. The feeder is about 10 feet in the air so it is at the same level as the window. Platform feeders can be hung, pole mounted, or even attached to the outside of a window depending n your situation. Mine is pole mounted. I used a one-half inch galvanized pipe threaded into a pipe flange that is mounted to the under side of the feeder. You can also use a wooden pole if desired. As you can see, I have attached a suet feeder.

The following photo was taken on the platform feeder:

Male and Female Northern Cardinal, Dark-Eyed Junco, In the Snow

First of all, worth noting is the Dark-Eyed Junco, the first day (November 2nd) we have had these birds this Fall. They are also known as snow birds, right on que, as the first snow we received was October 30th. You can see the pipe extending from the bottom of the feeder.

As I mentioned above, there are several types of platform feeders. These feeders are good to attract multiple birds at the same time. However, at times the larger birds will chase away the smaller ones not allowing them to feed. That is why I have several types of feeders. A tube feeder is designed for smaller birds and I will profile that in my next post. Different locations in the yard will also attract different birds. Some birds prefer more protected areas, for example, next to shrubbery as opposed to an open area.

Finally, a few more photos to enjoy.

Juvenile Male Northern Cardinal

White-Breasted Nuthatch

Originally published at http://dansgardening.blogspot.com.
Explored Sukhna Wildlife sanctuary — Jungle Trail, First Time, Chandigarh.
By: Aaryan Bhalla
Tags: Nature, Sukhna Lake, Birds, Environment, Chandigarh

By Aaryan bhalla

The thought behind these pages is to familiarize beginners with the obvious — it will help them to know the birds a little better and, more importantly, interest and equip them to look for birds that are scarce and worth observing when met because opportunities may be limited.

On the 20th of December living in Chandigarh only. I first time visited Sukhna Wildlife sanctuary — Jungle Trail, First Time in my life. I have visited sukhna lake more than 20 times. But, not its Jungle trail any yet.

Actually, Chandigarh at 34 N and 77 E is nestled at the base of Shivalik Hills. It is a planned city with tree-lined roads, parks, and gardens. Chandigarh, the dream city of India’s first Prime Minister, Sh. Jawahar Lal Nehru is known as one of the best experiments in urban planning and modern architecture in the twentieth century in India.

temple of “Chandi Mandir”

Chandigarh derives its name from the temple of "Chandi Mandir" located in the vicinity of the site selected for the city. The deity 'Chandi’, the goddess of power and a fort of 'Garh' laying beyond the temple gave the city its name "Chandigarh-The City Beautiful".

Le Corbusier, the French Architect

Le Corbusier, the Architect of this modern city gave the people of Chandigarh, a man-made lake for activities. To save the lake from silting up check dams were built in the catchment area, which evolved into a rich ecosystem now a sanctuary.

In the vicinity of Chandigarh other wetlands, jungles, scrublands, grasslands, badlands, agriculture fields, and orchards. These diverse habitats have resulted in rich avian diversity.

The Morni Hills in Himachal 35 KM away from Chandigarh

This diversity is augmented by the presence of the Morni reserved forests in adjoining Haryana and the lower ranges of the Himalayas which are less than 30 Km from Chandigarh in the State of Himachal Pradesh.

View of the sukhna lake on a sunny afternoon.

Sukhna Lake is made in sector 1 of Chandigarh and is a reservoir at the foothills (Shivalik hills) of the Himalayas. This 3 km² rainfed lake was created in 1958 by damming the Sukhna Choe, a seasonal stream coming down from the Shivalik Hills by Le Corbusier and the Chief Engineer P L Verma.

To preserve its tranquility, Corbusier insisted on two things: that it be forbidden for motorboats to circulate in the water, and for vehicular traffic to be prohibited on top of the dam.

Originally the seasonal flow entered the lake directly causing heavy siltation. To check the inflow of silt, 25.42 km² of land was acquired in the catchment area and put under vegetation. In 1974, the Choe was diverted and made to bypass the lake completely, the lake being fed by three siltation pots, minimizing the entry of silt into the lake itself.
Project FeederWatch Begins November 14th/Exploring Tube Feeders
Tags: Nature, Photography, Birds, Bird Photography, Bird Watching

Welcome back. As I have mentioned in the last several posts, Project FeederWatch begins on November 14th. There is still time to sign up for the season, which continues through mid-April. This is a great family activity, especially during these trying times. The project involves counting for two consecutive days of your choice each week, or less often if desired.

I have participated in this project for many years. Project FeederWatch began during the winter of 1987–88 with over 4,000 participants. Today, more than 20,000 people participate across the US and Canada. So join today and let the counting begin.

In my last post I began a series highlighting different types of bird feeders. In that post I covered platform feeders, one of the most common types. As I mentioned, platform feeders work well for attracting larger birds and multiple birds at once. This can be conducive to good photo opportunities.

In this post I will cover tube feeders, another popular feeder type. As I started doing in the last post, I will provide links to purchase these feeders for your convenience if you are interested. Be sure to also check out the tab at the top of my blog titled “Bird Watching and Gardening Supplies” for more products.

I have two tube feeders outside the kitchen window. One holds regular bird seed mix, the other is designed only as a nyjer (thistle) seed feeder.

Tufted Titmouse

The tube feeder above has 6 perches for birds to feed. This feeder is designed for the common bird food mixes. Some feeders come with alternate ports that allow use with nyjer seed. These feeders typically hang thus are fairly easy to install.

The next photo shows both of my tube feeders, the one on the right is a nyjer (thistle) seed feeder. It is constructed with a fine screen that allows the small seeds to poke through just enough to allow the birds to access them. This feeder is visited most often in my yard by goldfinches and house finches. Occasionally, however, a chickadee will feed from the thistle feeder, Chickadees typically prefer sunflower seeds, Its fun to watch them take one tiny njyer seed at a time, go to a branch, and open the seed, I’m not sure how they are able to do so!

As I mentioned in my last post, tube feeders are preferred by smaller birds, as they give them a chance to feed away from the larger, bossy birds. Occasionally larger birds will try yo feed from tube feeders, but they usually aren’t successful.

So fill up your feeder or feeders, and get ready to enjoy Project FeederWatch.

Finally, a photo for your enjoyment.

Northern Cardinal

Until next time.
Are You Thinking of Adopting a Pet Bird?
By: Daryl Correa
Tags: Pets, Birds, Anecdotes, Budgie, Adoption

Animal Anecdote

Are You Thinking of Adopting a Pet Bird?

Photo by David Clode on Unsplash

In the beginning

Earlier this year, I had decided that I want to adopt a pet, preferably a dog. But, my mom was not happy with my decision with getting a dog home for very good reasons like high maintenance, uncomfortable guests. So, I had to rule out dogs from my pet list. Out of all the possible pets, the least experience I had was with birds. So, I decided to get a bird. :D

Welcome Home

I had no knowledge about birds other than their ability to poop on humans in most unexpected situations. I started reading about their behavior, care and even got permission granted by my mom. What a day! I went to the pet store that evening and got a pair of budgies home.

The first day

I put some millet in a bowl and water in another and patiently waited for them to eat. But, they never stepped down from the perch. I was a little worried, so were they. They were totally anxious, experiencing a whole new environment with horror. I tried giving them a grated carrot, coriander leaves. Nothing worked. Meanwhile, I was constantly reading about birds and made myself feel better that it’s totally normal for them to panic in the new environment.

The next day

They stepped down the perch, started moving around, had their meal, and I could see that they were feeling better. So, the very next thing on my checklist was to make them perch on my finger. I couldn’t get it checked for the next one and a half months. Even though they are commonly domesticated, they are still wilder than dogs and cats. So, it takes time to tame them.

Today

It’s been nearly 3 months since I got them and they are very comfortable with myself and my family and happily chirp and perch on my finger and take their treats. It’s rewarding to have a bird as a pet as they keep your mind calm by their bright colors and sprightly nature.
Using eBird/Bird Photos
Tags: Ebird, Birds, Bird Photography, Bird Watching, Feeding Birds

Welcome back. If you follow my blog you will know that I have covered in detail several bird counting opportunities, including Project FeederWatch, and the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC). In this post I will introduce eBird, which is also managed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

As you may know, both Project FeederWatch and GBBC limit your bird counts as they are for specific periods of time. Project FeederWatch runs from mid-November to early April each year, and participants can only count for 2 consecutive days each week. The GBBC takes place each February and involves counting birds for 4 consecutive days. What if you are an avid birder and want to count every day even in different locations? Enter eBird.

Perhaps the best way to introduce eBird is through the following video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t-0xAjxakw&t=10s

As the video mentions, data can be entered either via the website or using the mobile app. Photos and even audio recordings can also be entered.

From the eBird website:

eBird began with a simple idea-that every birdwatcher has unique knowledge and experience. Our goal is to gather this information in the form of checklists of birds, archive it, and freely share it to power new data-driven approaches to science, conservation and education. At the same time, we develop tools that make birding more rewarding. From being able to manage lists, photos and audio recordings, to seeing real-time maps of species distribution, to alerts that let you know when species have been seen, we strive to provide the most current and useful information to the birding community.

eBird data document bird distribution, abundance, habitat use, and trends through checklist data collected within a simple, scientific framework. Birders enter when, where, and how they went birding, and then fill out a checklist of all the birds seen and heard during the outing. eBird’s free mobile app allows offline data collection anywhere in the world, and the website provides many ways to explore and summarize your data and other observations from the global eBird community.

So for those of you who want to participate beyond Project FeederWatch, eBird is for you.

Regarding bird photography, you may wonder what camera I am using. I currently use a Nikon Coolpix L830. It has a 34X zoom and is mainly a point and shoot camera, although it does also have manual modes. This is an older model that I bought used. It is a good camera for those on a budget. For your convenience here is a link if you are interested in purchasing a Nikon Coolpix camera; there are new and used ones listed.

Finally, some photos for your enjoyment.

American Goldfinch

Northern Cardinal, House Sparrow

Downy Woodpecker

Originally published at http://dansgardening.blogspot.com.
Scarlet Hay Fever
By: Therese Ralston
Tags: Nature, Beauty, Photography, Birds, Life

You rarely see something so enchanting it seems like an illusion, but that’s how it was last spring. Outside, checking the blooming Bottle-brush trees, a red pompom zipped past me. Didn’t see much, the bird was so fast it blurred.

Tomato red, black eye-band, grey-white belly-the loveliest creature I’ve ever seen. I think. It didn’t keep still for a millisecond, so I couldn’t catch it entirely, just a touch of bright beauty as the bird flashed past.

I walked to the bottom of the garden where the Callistemon were blossoming. These whizzbang birds were completely focused on drinking, and had brilliant camouflage among red flowers.

The air was abuzz with bees and hazy with pollen. There were also more zippy red blobs with long curved beaks and pert grey tails.

I suffer from hay fever. The garden gives me watery eyes, a scratchy throat, itchy ears and runny nose. Staying out too long, gives me sneezing attacks so loud they’re like nose hurricanes.

I’d never seen Scarlet Honeyeaters before. They seemed like Australia’s answer to the hummingbird because they could sit in the air.

This hot red fluff-ball wouldn’t stop flitting, bouncing, bobbing, clinging and licking nectar until its attention was grabbed by a honey bee.

Just in front of my face, I had a bee and a bird watching the bee, both hovering in a blur of wings. Straight on, the bird’s dainty head looked quirky. It noticed me the moment the bee made a bee-line for my nose. We both jumped and Scarlet buzzed off.

This is the smallest of our honeyeaters at 10 to 11 cm, or a bit more than your longest finger.

The bird was upside-down, right side up but obscured, sideways, hovering, moving constantly. By the time I had one in focus it had shot through again.

If I stayed statue still, the Scarlet Honeyeaters didn’t notice me. Not being an edible flower full of nectar helped. I snapped off 50 photos, but 40 were a faint red/black blob where the bird flew away.

Meanwhile, my nose was tickling, prickling, building up to a gargantuan sneeze.

I wanted to stay in the magic; these birds were awesome.

The Scarlet O’Hara of birds, even though all the red ones were male. I saw stacks of females with a red blush on their chin, but they were harder to spot; plain olive-brown and indistinguishable in the foliage.

I’d never seen such active birds; they would drink anything under the table. Nonstop Crimson Honeyeaters. They were beautiful, they were entrancing, they were…ahh-choo.

It was the ta-dah moment when the dazzling assistant emerges from the magician’s box that’s been cut in half.

Sixteen red pompoms flew out of the bottle-brush. At least ten brown females went with them. Abracadabra. I laughed so hard I nearly choked, not realizing so many Scarlets were in there.

Then it was just me, the flowers and the bees.

With snotty nose and weeping eyes I was still a truly happy birder.
Fall Robins
Tags: Birds, Poem, Seasons

Photo by Ruth Solnit

Today only their edges show.

A feather, a foot, a flash of orange,

stirring leaves left on the big madrona,

playing hide-and-seek,

suddenly exotic.

Ruth Solnit November 2020
- mundoanimalselvagem
By: Mundo Animal Selvagem
Tags: Coruja Buraqueira, Athene Cunicularia, Coruja, Birds, Canto Da Coruja

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Letter to Z
By: Adelanwa Akorede Idris
Tags: Love, Birds, Poem

I’m a bird; a nomad

I’m free,

I fly wide

Sometimes, I choose to settle

I like to see a view, one at a time

I don’t have a favorite

If the line makes me feel safe

I may stay forever

If the sky makes me feel alive,

I can keep flying for live

If the yard is blossom

I will suck with all my mind

If it makes me feel safe, I shall be there forever

Keep it tidy and glamorous

I promise to stay with you forever

Seduce me, I have interests

I’ll adore you forever

Sing for me

I promise to play you forever

My wings are delicate, I cherish them

Handle with care, don’t hurt them,

I’ll be here by will

Don’t force me grounded

My feathers are vulnerable,

Don’t ever prey on them,

Don’t pick them when I shiver

Don’t hurt me

I’ll stay forever

Don’t cage me, please

Please, don’t jail me

Don’t tie me, please

Please, don’t jail me

I’ll stay by my will

I’ll stay with you forever
Nothing says Nothing Like the Puffin
By: Marilyn Flower
Tags: Nature, Poetry, 50 Words, The Bad Influence, Birds

Nothin’ says nothin’ like the puffin,

that majestic of sea birds All penguin-esque

till you get to that jest of a salmon-colored bill —

which is no laughing matter, really

when you think about it, cause the bird eats,

rather than tweets, hence says nothin,’ like a huffin’ puffin.
Birds that can’t fly
By: Akash Agrawal
Tags: Nature, Birds, Interesting, Facts, Penguins

Ain’t we told since childhood that birds fly? But there are a number of bird species that can not fly.

The most famous five are explained in the below Instagram post.

Please click here to read the complete post.

For more such interesting facts, please follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Love in the time of lockdown — no apparent boom for breeding songbirds
By: Phil Pickin
Tags: Nature, Wildife, Ornithology, Birds, Wildlife Conservation

Blue Tit © Edmund Fellowes

Data collected by the volunteer bird ringers operating Constant Effort Scheme (CES) Sites for the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) provide insights into the numbers, breeding success and survival rates of 24 widespread resident and migrant songbirds.

So, how did these species fare in 2020? It has been suggested that birds may have benefited from the reduction in human activity across most of the British and Irish countryside in the spring and summer. While some birds that are particularly prone to disturbance, such as coastal waders and terns, prospered at some sites, the evidence generated by CES ringers suggests that it was actually a poor breeding season for many of our smaller birds.



The spring was one of the warmest on record but, perhaps counter-intuitively, this was not necessarily good news for all bird species, as Lee Barber, the BTO’s Demographic Surveys Officer, explains. “In warm springs, caterpillars tend to hatch earlier and develop faster; birds also lay their eggs earlier, but not to the same extent, and so the availability of food peaks before the period when their young need it most, with fewer fledging as a result. The results from our ringers show that the average number of juvenile Blue and Great Tits caught per adult was lower in 2020 than in any other year since the survey began almost 40 years ago.”



Ringers were not the only group of BTO volunteers to record a dearth of tit species in the UK during 2020, according to Garden Birdwatch (GBW) Development Officer Rob Jaques. “Participants in the BTO’s Garden BirdWatch survey reported Blue and Great Tits from fewer gardens than average during the summer. Data from CES ringers suggest adult numbers were higher than average in 2020, so the drop in GBW observations mostly likely reflects the poor breeding season.”



On a more positive note, some of our summer visitors fared well in 2020, with the numbers of some returning migrant birds being well above average. Lee notes that “The abundance of Chiffchaff and Blackcap, two short-distance migrants that winter in southern Europe and North Africa, was the highest since monitoring began in 1983, and numbers of the declining Willow Warbler were also above average.”



For many, volunteers, results such as this provided a real boost, explains Dave Leech, the Head of the Ringing Scheme. “It was a tough year for everyone across the country. Ringing was impossible in many areas due to restrictions imposed in response to the Covid outbreak, but the spring lockdown in England ended soon after the start of the CES period in May and about half of all sites were able to provide data this year. Our ringers invest a huge amount in monitoring our birds and this opportunity to engage with the natural world in such a positive way really helped them to process the challenges of 2020.”

The full report can be read here
SURROUNDINGS UNSOUND
By: G.R. Melvin
Tags: Casual, Uncertain, The Bad Influence, Free Verse Poetry, Birds

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Bird 🐦
By: Harshit Gupta
Tags: Care, Anxiety, Love, Birds, Isolation

Bird 🐦

A bird with new wings is roaming freely in the sky,

She was feeling free and alive as everything she enjoyed was not a lie,

A predator looked at her wings filled with the colors of rainbow,

How cruel someone in this world can be she didn't know.

Predator showed some beans and some love to her

As she indeed in need of love so she went on fly along with him

A fly that will fill her heart with sorrows but she wasn't aware

Predator started clawing her wings but she was in love and didn't move from there

Once the pleasure of eyes, the beauty of her feathers was fading,

Predator is not like he looks, he is cruel; she was getting,

Once with the heart as pure as gold was feeling like lost in the forest floor,

She mended her wings and started flying upwards with the heart that is sad and poor.

--Harshit
- mundoanimalselvagem
By: Mundo Animal Selvagem
Tags: Azulão, Azulão Cantando, Birds, Cyanocompsa Brissonii, Canto Do Azulão

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FLIGHT SCHOOL
By: Christine Poythress
Tags: Story, Birds, Nonfiction, Countrylife

FLIGHT SCHOOL

Yesterday on my morning walk, I thought I saw a car was backing out of a driveway. I was a block away and when I got closer; I saw two fat birds — no wheels. Maybe I should wear my glasses — I can’t tell two birds from a car.

At first, I thought they were guinea hens, but no, they were black vultures. They pecked the garbage can, scavenging for crumbs, but don’t they move in flocks? When I came within two feet of them, one flew to the right and one to the left.

Ten years ago, I lived on Parchcorn Hollow Road on Short Mountain, and the first time I heard a ruckus on my rooftop, I ran to see what the noise was all about. I stood in the middle of the road and watched. The parent vultures guarded as the mature fledglings flew down to the street. Back up for another try, they went. Down and up for an hour.

It took a couple of days before they could five feet. Then they left. I was glad they were fast learners — I had a tin roof, and they made a hell of a racket. The former owner never mentioned the vulture flight school. Having a flock of vultures on my roof — creepy.
Ruffed Grouse
By: Gordon Mcfarland
Tags: Tanka, Nature, Poetry, Birds, Grouse

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The Red-Whiskered Bulbul
By: Delicious Tacos
Tags: Birds

From Savage Spear of the Unicorn

I went to pray this morning, looking out the front window. In the front yard the grass has gone to seed. A little wren came. And then finches with red faces, I don’t know what they are. Landing on the foxtail grass making it sway under their little weight. Throwing their heads back to swallow the seeds. They inspect the weeping ficus I have outside in a pot. Investigate the undersides of the leaves. Maybe looking for aphids. A female hummingbird, a rufous or Allen’s hummingbird, perching on the ficus branch, fluffing her neck, stretching out her long exotic tongue. You can hear the mourning doves out back. The mockingbirds. Ravens with their tock-tock sound like that hollow ribbed wooden thing you rubbed with a stick in music class in third grade. Not so bad. Power lines come down from my house, down the hill to the street, and the other day the rare red-whiskered bulbul landed there and looked at me. He was with his four children. I was afraid he’d die alone. But he caught a break.
- mundoanimalselvagem
By: Mundo Animal Selvagem
Tags: Tico Tico, Canto Do Tico Tico, Zonotrichia Capensis, Birds, Pássaro

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Swallow
By: Ilja Marianne
Tags: Poetry, Birds, Grief, Column

In the year before she died my mother bought a bird identification guide. Not an official one, a tiny thing from the 90s, eccentric title, stained pages, something someone once loved very much. She never really learned about the birds we see around our home, the guide was abandoned on her desk. But she let me know: if I could choose to be an animal, I would choose to be a bird. The flying, the freedom. She considered getting a tattoo of four small swallows. We represented the swallows: free to go wherever we wanted to.

In my thoughts she is the person who stands still and looks up when she sees a bird temporarily suspended in the air, that it makes her think of us. Maybe I should have told her: it’s you, you’re the swallow, sooner rather than later you’ll be free from earth and full of freedom.

But we don’t tell each other everything.

In the year after my mother died I learned the names of all common birds in the Netherlands. There are three species of swallows common here: the barn swallow, the house martin, the swift.

I would like to tell you: every time I see a bird, it’s you.
It’s a Sin
By: Jenine Bsharah Baines
Tags: Poetry, Spirituality, Blue Insights, Birds, Music

“…they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” Harper Lee

Why can’t we hear Atticus?

Why can’t you quit

taking target practice at my songbird,

and why can’t I

drop my bow or rifle first

and be what I want

all of us to become?

Something eons tougher

than sinless –

striving.

Feathered creatures, acolytes of better angels,

Light enfleshed, in flight,

in song recomposing cacophonies

into sonatas of moonlight

and tone poems of larks ascending.

Wrong notes never denied,

always forgiven.

Music as more than therapy,

miracle elixirs from our throats

for this terminal world

©Jenine Bsharah Baines 2020

I began this poem in a blue moment, seeking insight after (BRACE YOURSELF) reading about a father in Santa Monica, CA. who beheaded his two young children. What IS it with humanity? When WILL we learn that the impact of our very ‘song’ ripples outward to the cosmos like a stone’s in a pool of water? Have we learned nothing from Atticus? The resistance of some to BLM makes me wonder…Of course all lives matter, but This Is Not The Point at this point in time. And, yet, with Emily Dickinson, I believe in hope, “the thing with feathers.” Light wouldn’t exist — or couldn’t be perceived — without darkness, correct? In the poem, I ‘reference’ Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” and Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “The Lark Ascending”. I’m fairly sure you’re familiar with the sonata but you may not know RVW’s amazing tone poem. You HEAR the birdsong in the violin! In fact, “Lark” is not only my grandma-name but one of the three pieces of music I’ve begged my children to have playing as I make my way to the other side. Hilary Hahn is an angel of artistry.

The other two works? RVW’s “Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis” — GORGEOUS — and Otis Redding’s “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay”. I’ll have to be in heaven before I can waste time with no guilt!

Thank you, team at Blue Insights — including but not limited to Thomas Plummer, Øivind H. Solheim, and Francine Fallara. Thank you, dearest readers. You make my soul sing.

To quote T.S. Eliot, “You are the music while the music lasts.”

https://medium.com/about-me-stories/about-me-jenine-bsharah-baines-1b7652c9561b
- mundoanimalselvagem
By: Mundo Animal Selvagem
Tags: Canto Do Curió, Oryzoborus Angolensis, Pássaro Curió, Curió, Birds

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Red Bird Landing — An amazing gathering of red birds.
By: Lynda Coker
Tags: Nature, Home, Photography, Birds, Life

Photo by Lynda Coker

Red Bird Landing — An amazing gathering of red birds.

Have you ever been in the right place at the right time to get a chance to photograph something you haven’t seen before? I recently had that opportunity while having lunch at home. You see, this is the view out the window next to my dining table.

While we often see red birds, or as some say, Cardinals in Northeast Texas, I’ve never seen so many come to feed at the same time. I don’t know what brought them all in at the same time, but a full dozen were captured in this photograph, some on the feeder and some in the arbor foliage. Since it was taken through my window, the photo doesn’t show the real brilliance of the red color of these birds. But no matter, we enjoyed their visit while it lasted!