An Introduction to Ornithology – Bird Watching
We humans are great at giving sophisticated titles to things we enjoy. In fact, here is an introduction to Ornithology, better known as bird watching.
An Introduction to Ornithology – Bird Watching
As with many sophisticated terms ending in “ology”, ornithology is Greek in nature. It means the study of birds. While there are certainly many professional and academic groups focusing on ornithology, it is one of those rare fields where amateurs far out number the pros. About the only other field where this is the case is astronomy.
For amateurs, bird watching is simply the act of…well, watching birds. It can be pursued in exotic foreign lands like the Amazon in South Africa, not the bookstore on your computer. For most, it is a leisurely hobby pursued in areas around where you live. Heck, you can even do it from your backyard.
In modern society, we rarely take the time to really notice what is going on around us. Bird watching is a chance to do just that. If you ever want a hypnotic experience, just sit and watch a hummingbird at work. You will quickly notice the ballet it performs and be amazed at the rate it flaps its small wings to remain both aloft and maneuver. Watch for more than five minutes and you will be hooked on bird watching.
The beauty of bird watching is you can approach it in a variety of ways. The first time out, most simply focus on sighting different birds. As you get into it, you will want to keep a bird watching journal in which you will keep a list of the birds you have seen. This is known as the “life list” among bird watchers because it gets thicker and thicker as you record more sighting through your life. Yes, you will get that hooked. I know people that carry their journal with them everywhere, even on business trips.
As you get more addicted to birding, you will start to become an expert. You can stick with just sighting birds, but many get more involved. They start noting behavioral patterns ranging from migration to breading to singing. The choice is entirely yours. Next thing you know, you will be using your vacation time to visit locations where you have an opportunity to sight rare, exotic birds. At this point, there is no turning back. You are a birder through and through.
Simply put, bird watching is an inexpensive, practical and enjoyably hobby by just about any calculation. Whether you choose to call it Ornithology or birding, there is no debate that it will hook you.
Rick Chapo is with NomadJournals.com - makers of bird watching journals.
How To Make Sales After the Craft Show
There are a number of ways that you can do this – from setting up a website to setting up a weekly garage sale during the summer. We'll take a look at four ways you can continue making a profit when the doors of another craft show close for the weekend.
1.) Set up a website – Studies have shown that more people are becoming comfortable and actually prefer to do their business online. Essentially you could have a craft show that goes 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Taking the time to set up a website that showcases your crafts and also provides people an avenue to purchase the crafts can be a huge seller for you in the long run.
2.) Have an e-mail list – What is the next best thing to having a website? Why not set up an e-mail list top contact people that are interested in your crafts? These could be people that were at a craft show where your products were displayed, and they took a liking to them and wanted to be informed when new and different crafts would be available. You can even take it one step further and inform them of where you are going to be for your next craft show, what new products you have, and other interesting news. All you need to do is set up a sign up list in your booth at any craft show.
3.) Sales list – You will all likely have it happen at one point or another – someone sees something of yours on display at a craft show, and you are all out of that craft. What do you do? This person really wants your craft, and you don't have one. This is where a sales list comes in very handy. You can write down the names and addresses of people that want one of your crafts. Essentially, you have the beginnings of an ordering system on your hands. Soon, your order list becomes a funnel of after-craft show sales that you had never even thought of!
4.) A weekly sale – Who needs a craft show to be set up for them, when they can set up a mini-craft show themselves? Many crafters will spend one weekend day a month in the comfort of their own garage – displaying and selling the crafts they have put together. You don't have to pay for the craft show fee, because you are on your own property and the only thing you might have to splurge for is a pot of coffee and some fresh donuts for potential customers! This is a great time to work on your sales list and e-mail list too!
The craft show profits don't have to end when the craft show is done for another weekend. The enterprising crafter will always find a way to market and sell their craft as much as possible – generating more income for their business!
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Natalie Goyette shows you how to make your craft show business profitable in her best selling ebook: Craft Show Success Secrets. Visit her site: Craft Shows
Playing Target Golf
Copyright (c) 2006 Jack Moorehouse
Golf is a target game. That's why golfers pick targets before hitting the ball. Maybe it's a distant tree, a telephone pole, or a church steeple, whatever it is, we all have some idea of where we want to hit the ball. These targets are directional goals and we need them to minimize scores.
Then, of course, there are distance goals. We need them just as much as we need directional goals. Maybe it's a brown patch just to the left of a bunker, a yardage marker in the center of the fairway, or the center of the green. Regardless, distance goals are just as important as directional goals.
The key to playing target golf is consistent contact. If you don't hit the ball well time after time after time, as I stress in my golf lessons and golf tips, you don't know where your shot will land. Maybe it will be too short or maybe too long, but you'll never know for sure where it. If you want to play good target golf, you must have control of your shot.
If you don't make consistent contact and you're serious about reducing your golf handicap, work on it until you do. While there's no magic wand to help you make consistent contact, you may want to commit yourself to holding the club gently and making your hands soft and supple when you play. You'll be surprised at how much better you'll hit the ball.
Putting
Poor distance control is a major reason for three-putting a hole. At least 85 percent of the time, your putt will miss farther short or long than it misses to either side. That's on straight putts. On breaking putts, distance control is also a key to putting well. Short putts require distance control as well. You need to hit the putt fast enough to hold the line, but slow enough to go in the hole.
Here are 4 tips to improving distance control when putting:
• Read putts from side to side as well as from behind
• Calculate direction and distance separately
• Control distance by the length of your backswing
• Practice breaking putts as much as you can
Keep these tips in mind when you're playing and you'll have better control of your distance when putting. And practice distance control putting as much as you can.
Approach Shots
The key to full shots to the green is solid contact. To achieve it, try the following: First, let the ball's lie determine where you hit the shot. Generally speaking the worse your lie, the more downward a blow you'll need. On short approach shots (100 yards and in) choose your club based on the trajectory you want for your shot. If you have a poor lie and you're playing the ball back in your stance, you have to subtract loft.
On long approach shot, choose enough club so there's no chance of you overswinging. In other words, choose a club that allows you to swing easily and still reach the green. Finally, stress distance control in practice, just as you do when working on your putting. Hit shots to greens on the practice range. If there's none, pick out a spot or a marker on the range and pretend it's the green. Hit to it.
Advancement Shots
Advancement shots, as I've explained in my golf tips, are tee shots and shots from the fairway or the green when you don't expect to hit the green. Unfortunately, players tend to disregard distance control on these shots and shoot entirely for a directional goal. Instead, try this: Choose a direction for the shot. Create an imaginary path for it. Select a spot on that "line" that you know you can reach with a smooth swing. And erect a "mind's eye" flagpole on that spot. Then aim for it. This visualization technique transforms advancement shots into approach shots.
Trouble Areas
Is this an all too familiar spot for you? The need for a specific distance target is seldom greater than when playing from trouble spots where direction seems ultra important. Again, separate distance and direction. Pick a distance target along your direction line, just as you would off the tee. Remember, when you're in trouble, every shot is a distance shot, just as it is with every other shot.
Playing target golf, as I teach in my golf instruction sessions, is one of the fastest ways to shave strokes off your golf handicap. But whether it's a putt, an approach shot, an advancement shot, or a shot from the rough, directional AND distance control are equally important. The key to achieving both is consistent contact.
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Jack Moorehouse is the author of the best-selling book "How To Break 80 And Shoot Like The Pros." He is NOT a golf pro, rather a working man that has helped thousands of golfers from all seven continents lower their handicap immediately. He has a free weekly newsletter with the latest golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.