In the birding/naturalist circles I often encounter people who like to state "fun facts" about birds/wildlife/nature. The thing is I didn't ask for these facts and they don't provoke a reaction for me. Often they're things I already know. I'm not sure if they are trying to be helpful or to display how smart they are or something else. What are good ways to proceed when someone does this? If you do this yourself, what do you expect?

These are different than actionable datapoints like the recent location of a bird I might be interested in. In this case I would thank them and offer any interesting recent sighting of mine.

I'm on the autism spectrum and my intuitions on conducting interactions are not great.

Please note that this question is not intended to criticize or stop people from offering unsolicited facts. I am asking about how to optimally respond to this

I started birding in 2020 with 1 outing with my shitty midrange smartphone and still managed to get flying photos of red winged blackbirds, admittedly not the rarest bird but it was a super thrilling experience and got me hooked. After that I borrowed my dad's ancient digital camera a few times, but at least it had some physical zoom! Then I moved onto a Panasonic Lumix bridge camera for about a year before getting my first cheap used DSLD and a tameon 100-400mm lens, an underrated lens IMO better than their 150-600 for the most part. After about half a year with that lens I upgraded to a Canon 400mm f5.6 L USM lens. There is a reason this lens is so highly regarded despite the lack of image stabilization I got some amazing images with it and for bird in flight photography image stabilization becomes mostly irrelevant. I eventually got a 100-400mm II lens which I still feel like is maybe the best lens for the money at this point for Canon birders. The IS allows you to get much better still shots of birds and the minimal focal distance is amazing. It's a little bit heavier but considering the advantages it is so worth it especially a used one. The new mirrorless cameras make these old EF lenses far better than they ever used to be too, with the dramatically improved autofocus. I'm still grateful for my time with DSLRs and practicing manual focus though. I now have a Canon 100-500mm and it's similar to the 100-400 II but I feel like it has equal or better sharpness at 500mm compared to the old lens at 400mm, and even better autofocus plus it is noticably lighter. Both lenses work very well with a 1.4x teleconverter if you have enough light.

I'm super happy with the 100-500mm and am grateful to have such a lens combined with a R7, but I still have dreams of a EF 500mm II prime lens. They are heavy but the optics are basically unmatched especially for the admittedly very very expensive price.

Left my phone outside for a couple minutes the other day when I heard some bird calls, these are the ones it picked up. (FL) First time a Red Shouldered Hawk!

Never seen these type of birds around our neighborhood here in SoCal.

She comes by every day and is such a joy to see. It's been very cold the last couple weeks so it's made me feel bad for her standing with one leg up to avoid touching the snowy deck. Now that it's above freezing she feels she needs to stand IN the water. She's a weirdo and I love her 😍

Apparently 1% of them have this, so I figured I’d share this one I found. (https://www.sibleyguides.com/2011/03/another-clue-for-identifying-downy-and-hairy-woodpeckers/)

I’ve always been a casual birder but this year I became obsessed after going on my first Audubon trip and learning LA County, CA has the most bird species seen of any other US state. When I started solo birding, photography became the next logical step. It means I can ID later and an eBird reviewer can alert me to any misidentifications. But I started to fall in love with bird photography as well. To get better photos, I have to study bird behavior, which makes me a better birder. I got my camera in October. Nikon D500, Tamron G2 150 mm- 600mm lens. Shot RAW and edited in LR.

1. Cedar Waxwing enjoying Tonyon Berries. City founders mistook them for holly, hence Hollywood.
2. Osprey enjoying a fish at Bolsa Chica wetlands
3. Acorn Woodpecker surveying his granary
4. Northern Mockingbird… I enjoy the fall colors behind and how they bring out the golden eye
5. Great Blue Heron looking like a Dino
6. Northern Pintail in pickleweed
7. Blue Grey Gnatcatcher munching green aphids, which reproduce so quickly because they are clones, already pregnant with themself when born
8. Female Bushtit munching some seeds
9. Yellow Rumped Warbler in my yard. I expanded my feeders in September and since that time, although I live 12 miles from downtown Los Angeles, I have had 51 species visit my tiny yard. Including Amazon parrots and Great Horned Owl.
10. American Robin. If there is one thing I’ve learned the last few months it’s to appreciate the common birds around me.

Phoenix and Glendale, AZ. Bonus trash panda.

Townsend's Warbler

Photographed in 12/25/24 in Pima County, AZ

My sister managed to snap a couple blurry zoomed in photos on her phone before she/he flew away

I already posted this on r/birdsfacingforward and thought people would enjoy on here too. Absolutely my favorite bird photo!

Some of my best bird pics of 2024. These were taken in Florida, Brazil, Idaho, and Arkansas.

Coastal Georgia, USA

Hoping for a little advice. I saved up all year and finally bought a spotting scope. Nikon 82ED-A 20-60x. It sure is a nice device. But i feel bad that im a little disappointed using it.

I have had a 600mm lens camera i have been using for years and as i got more into birding i felt the edges of what i could ID with the camera. Those faraway shorebirds, the migrating ducks in the middle of the lake... etc etc. You know the ones.

Everyone i spoke to told me a scope was the answer, but i spent a few days comparing side by side and it truly feels like they are resolving the same level of detail.

Again, this is a compliment, the scope is great. But i feel buyers remorse, and a little betrayed by everyone who said it would 'change the game', when it really feels like i can just stick with my camera.

Am i thinking wrong about this? Is there a trick to getting more distance/details from a scope? The other reason i wanted to get one is so i can watch wolves in yellowstone next fall. again, the 'drumbeat' of anyone i tall to keeps insisiting that i need a scope to see anything, but based on my experience so far i dont think ill be able to see much of anything in those huge valleys with camera or scope ubless it's pretty close to the road.

Any advice appreciated. Thanks.