Featured Bird Blogger of the Week

Howdee all,

Here we are again…Are you ready for week six of Featured Bird Blogger?
I hope you have been following all of the wonderful Bird bloggers I have introduced you to.

This week I am thrilled to introduce you to Robert Mortensen.  If you follow his blog you may have this logo image of Robert in your mind.  I really like the logo of Robert looking out with his binos. Robert has designed a wonderful blog header as well.  Since I have been following Roberts blog he changed the name of his blog three times. Avimor birding blog, Idaho Birding blog, Now Birding is Fun!.  The last name change came about recently as Robert is moving from his beloved Idaho to Utah soon. It is a name that will be suited to wherever he is birding.  Robert is a well loved regular with the Bird and nature folks on Twitter, promoting other blogs and posts that he finds interesting.  Robert loves sharing his knowledge and enthusiasm for birding with others.  He recently hosted Idaho Camera Birding Photo Competition check out this post to see the Nov 2010 Winners!

Robert is a passionate proponent for listing on eBird.. ..He is the top eBird lister in Idaho for checklists! Read Roberts Fun with eBird posts for help and ideas on how to use eBird. I have no doubt he will soon be top eBird lister for Utah.

Robert also reviews birding books and products..check out all of his reviews! Read this post on   Why I love Eagle Optics Ok, Eagle Optics…you should read this too!

Robert works full time is a busy father and husband…but…he finds time to……….

I used to work for a conservation-minded home builder and land developer. (I know that sounds like pigs flying to some of you, but it’s true…they do exist!)  We were developing a community named Avimor in the foothills north of Boise.  My family loved the fledgling neighborhood so much that we moved there and it became my center for birding.  I had only been seriously birding for about three years, but wanted to share my excitement for the 120+ species I was seeing with my neighbors, so I started a blog called the “Avimor Birding Blog”.

My general enthusiasm for birding and blogging could not be contained within my own neighborhood.

Robert Mortensen~Idaho soon to be Utah

Plus none of my neighbors were actually following the blog anyway.  They just knew me as the bird nerd who made funny noises while looking thru binoculars at something in the bushes.   I expanded my blog to have a more statewide focus and a bigger audience of people who appreciate this strange passion.  The blog started featuring a weekly segment spotlighting my fellow Idaho birders,  an Idaho bird photo contest, and sharing my adventures to Idaho birding hotspots across the state.  A zealous eBird evangelist, I used the blog to promote eBird in Idaho by way of a friendly competition and animated maps of eBird sightings. Quickly, I renamed the blog the “Idaho Birding Blog”.

All along I have been providing online reviews of the birding products and books I own.  Over the last year it has been really fun to be on the list of publishers who send me their books to review.  Yet, I still felt the blog was amateurish and lacked a personal touch of beauty and interest, so amateur bird photography was my next step.  I finally broke down and sold my stylin’ 150cc scooter to purchase a decent dSLR camera.  Photography has added a very enjoyable dimension to my birding.

A rough economy and a job change now has me flying out of my beloved Idaho, traveling all over the mid-Atlantic and Carolinas providing construction management services.  This was the catalyst for me to throw off the geographical limits of the birding blog.  Wanting to convey my birding enthusiasm, I renamed the blog “Birding is Fun!”; a name I can use the rest of my life no matter where I live or go birding.

Birding Profile~ Nate Swick Chapel Hill, North Carolina

“Birding is Fun!” will continue to include tales of my own birding adventures and photos, even those in my own backyard.  Keeping with the focus of promoting birding enthusiasm and seeking to contribute in some small way to the wonderful online birding community, I am taking global the weekly segment called “Birder Profiles”.  Birding is fun, not just because of the birds, but because of the birders.  Birders online are much more than screen names.  There are fun and interesting people behind those avatars.  I hope folks will get as much enjoyment out of “Birder Profiles” as I do. https://www.birdingisfun.com/p/idaho-birder-profiles.html

I love promoting other enthusiastic birders, bloggers and photographers, so whenever I see a great post or photo on someone’s site, I tweet it.  You can follow my tweets @Birding_is_fun

Sunday, October 24, 2010 Bird Glamour Shots
Dawn says…Wowee!!  Upclose and Personal shots…click to see more face photos!!

Thursday, August 26, 2010 Brewer’s Blackbirds vs. Grasshoppers
Dawn says..Gruesome details of a grasshopper being torn apart and eaten…yummy

Saturday, May 22, 2010 Birding Laughs: “There’s no such thing as a Seagull”
Dawn says…hee hee…You must read this very sweet and funny story!

Sunday, November 14, 2010 Autumn Feathers: American Wigeon
Dawn Says….read  Roberts observations of this local common bird…

Monday, November 1, 2010 Autumn Feathers – American Goldfinch
Dawn says…Click to …Read Roberts captions for these bird photos for a chuckle…

Robert’s Ebird posts are very interesting..here are a few you should check out!

Friday, January 22, 2010 Range Map Revolution?
Dawn says…This post compares Bird book maps to Ebird maps.

Thursday, September 2, 2010 eBird Avimor
Dawn says…This post shows how using ebird faithfully gives you a “complete annual bar chart for your personal location(s)”

Thursday, September 2, 2010 Idaho Rare Bird: Long-tailed Jaeger
Dawn says…read how local Idaho birders “enjoy this poor misguided migrating young bird”

Wednesday, June 9, 2010 Long-eared Owlets
Dawn says…How can you resist Owlet photos…click to see more

Friday, May 7, 2010 Always be Birding!
Dawn says…Are you like Robert? Are you Always Birding?

I hope you enjoyed Robert’s Blog and visit often…

Don’t forget to leave a comment.

Please keep those emails coming with suggestions of Birding Blogs you would like to see featured here. Nobbiecat(@)gmail(.)Com

Happy Birding!

All Permissions for this Post and Photos were given by Robert Mortensen