vBIRD WATCHING continued from page 13 A birder may also have a list of birds they have never seen and eBird will tell them where they have been sighted. There are birders who are doing a big year, documenting all their sightings and eBird is a great resource. “The Internet is wonderful because of eBird and rare bird alerts,” Dietrich said. “A rare species may have been sighted north of Duluth and an interested birder could run up and try to get a sighting.” Dietrich used to keep paper notebooks with notations of birds he had seen but now he does everything on eBird. He said it’s so easy to go into the app and see what birds he has seen and where he saw them. This year he believes he has around 250 bird sightings. Wherever birders go, they are looking for birds because birds are different all over the world whether it is Mexico or Italy or Germany. There are always different birds and birders never miss an opportunity to see a special bird sighting. One of Dietrich’s special memories is a rare bird sighting in Cuba. The smallest bird in the world is a bee hummingbird and can only be seen in Cuba. There are 26 unique birds endemic to Cuba and he was very pleased to have sighted 23 and heard a 24th during his visit there. The Internet is a great tool for today’s birders with apps for identifying birds or documenting sightings, but for years there were bird guides. Dietrich is excited about a new publication being released in South Dakota by the South Dakota Ornithology Union. “South Dakota has never had a printed bird guide book and a USD Professor, Dave Swanson, has just finished compiling a birder’s guide,” Dietrich said. The American Birding Association never saw a need for a guide in South Dakota because they didn’t believe there was a big enough audience for one. Like the Brogie Brothers who not only bird but also volunteer for outdoor activities, Dietrich has been part of adult education courses, teaching bird photography at Mount Marty College and assisting in birding workshops around the state. “There is a demand for that kind of stuff because there are a lot of birders,” Dietrich said. “They are out there but you don’t always see them.” From what Dietrich has read in recent wildlife association magazines, birdwatching is a very fast-growing hobby. There are different levels of birding. Some may just look at birds out their window, which has created a strong market for selling bird seed and turned it into a big business, there are those who bird watch from their car, or there are those who travel the state parks and wooded areas for the feathered friends. Often times when Dietrich goes birding on a nature trail, he doesn’t notice other birders but when he gets home and checks eBird, he sees a friend was out there, they sighted the same birds but not each other. There are so many good trails out by the Lake and the nature trails near Gavins Point Dam, especially in the spring and summer, are some of the best in the area. He also loves to go birding in Union Grove State Park near Vermillion or Newton State Park near Canton but during the cold days of winter, car birding is often the best bet. It doesn’t matter what season it is for Dietrich when he’s birding. One day he was birding near Sioux City and his Fitbit told him he had walked seven miles, some of it through thick terrain. “Of course, it’s much nicer to be hiking when the weather is warm but everywhere you go there are interesting birds,” Dietrich said. “You’ll run out of time to search for birds before you run out of places to search.” n Expert health care FOR ALL AGES Amanda Duxbury, MD, Heather Kleeman, DO, Mary Jo Olson, MD, Anastasia Searcy, DO, and Fernando Escobar, MD Make a personal, lifelong connection with the physicians at Sanford Vermillion. Our team specializes in preventive care, diagnosis and management of chronic conditions and general surgery need. Call (605) 677-3700 to schedule an appointment. 018027-00342 Rev. 10/18 18vHERVOICEvJANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019