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Christmas Gifts for Birders 2002

Once again, we’ve come up with a few ideas for holiday gifts for your favorite birder and/or nature lover. [Check the lists from the previous two years for more ideas: 2000, 2001.]

Marking your expensive equipment (binocs, scopes, cameras, laptops, cell phones, keys, golf clubs, etc.) is a no-brainer using StuffBak Labels. They are tough, self-stick labels of many shapes and sizes and include your own special ID number without listing any personal data. A toll-free phone number and a web site make it super easy for finders to report the lost or stolen items (and get a reward!). $1.95 and up, <www.stuffbak.com>.

Speaking of binoculars and cameras, you can now get a piece of equipment that combines the two! The Pentax DigiBino DB100 is a pair of 7x binoculars with a digital camera built in. Who’d a thought? $400, <www.pentax.com>.

Birding books are always great gifts—you can never have enough. Two new field guides have been published: the fourth edition of National Geographic’s “Field Guide to the Birds of North America” (see p.7) and a new ‘Golden’ guide: “Birds of North America: A Guide to Field Identification” by Chandler S. Robbins. Also, SAAS Field Trip Chairman Sheridan Coffey highly recommends the new “Birding Basics” book by David Sibley as a terrific “how-to” for birders of all skill levels.

Ever want to sit outside and feed birds right from your hand? It normally takes long hours and lots of patience, but if you want a stand-in, try the Bird in Hand Feeder. This crazy but brilliant idea looks like a couple of coat hangers fitted together, over which you put your own clothes. It sits in a chair with an outstretched glove filled with bird seed. After a few days of conditioning, you substitute your own self and watch the birds feed from your hand. $25, Duncraft, 800-593-5656 <www.duncraft.com>.

Did you take our advice last year and buy a Birdsong Identiflyer? It’s a handheld device that accepts coated cards with species illustrations; insert the card and play the corresponding bird calls and songs. A few new cards have been released, including “Songbirds of the South” and “Fabulous Frogs”, and there is a new Desk and Alarm Clock available. Cards are $9.95 each, Identiflyer is about $35 at local birding/nature stores; <www.identiflyer.com>.

T-shirts: Start with a San Antonio Audubon Society shirt, of course! A bargain at $12 each, for sale at our club meetings each month. Others to consider:
• “Bird flag”, featuring 50 American Wild Birds (Mountain Bluebirds, Doves and Cardinals) arranged to resemble the U.S. flag
• “Ten Most Wanted” —the birds we love to hate
• “North American Bats” —with illustrations and ID tips
• “Song Bird Pairs” —males and females of five species
• “Hummingbirds” —15 different North American Hummingbirds flitting about Bee balm flowers
[Buy them at The Nature Store <www.thenaturestore.com> 800-345-1638; or Earth Sun Moon Trading Co. <http://www.earthsunmoon.com/>]

Tracey suggests bird Christmas tree ornaments, “the more interesting and unusual the better;” perhaps to make a ritual of collecting one each year to commemorate that year’s birding. “Or, if they could, it would also be really neat if the family member could find a bird ornament that matched a particularly favorite bird that the birder had had that past year.” For glass ornaments with painted birds (and other wildlife) that can be personalized, try the Christmas Spirit Shop, 800-242-2913 <http://www.christmasspiritshop.com/>.

Along the same lines, these Birdwatcher Ornaments are cute; set of three birds doing the watching; $16.95, National Wildlife Federation catalog and web site: <http://www.shopnwf.org/>.

For something really different, look at the jewelry and accessories from B.Bosco Design, which incorporate the wings of real butterflies and moths (“naturally expired”) from all over the world in beautiful sterling silver or gold designed pieces. <www.bboscodesigns.com> Can be purchased through many online and retail stores, including The Nature Store (see above), and The Good Tern (in Galveston) <www.thegoodtern.com> 866-562-8376.

Now is the perfect time to buy your family and friends a membership in the San Antonio Audubon Society, because annual and Life Membership dues increase on January 1. So, while you’re buying that club t-shirt, why not go ahead and make someone very happy?

~Janice McClintock

A FEW SOURCES

LOCAL stores specializing in birding and nature:

• Big Red Nature Store, 5001 Broadway, 822-2473
• Wild Birds Unlimited, 14602 Huebner, 479-2473
• Wild Bird Center, Blanco at Loop 1604, 479-2455
• A Little Nature Store, Main St, Boerne, 698-1994
• Analytical Scientific of San Antonio, 11049 Bandera Rd, 684-7373
• The Discovery Channel Store, North Star Mall, 341-8171

Other sources for birding gifts:

• A terrific list of online stores that carry everything a birder could want, from the Open Directory Project.

San Antonio Audubon Society, 5150 Broadway #257, San Antonio, TX 78209-5710, (210) 308-6788, E-mail
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