Tag Archives: Birding Know How

Winter Birding with Heated / Electric Gloves

Year 13,

Longer time readers know I have been searching for a warm, reliable gloves and/or mittens for my winter hikes in the severe cold of Northeastern Minnesota. My approach had been winter gloves inside of large choppers (mittens). While this solution is warm, when I remove my choppers/gloves combination to work on trailcams, or adjust camera settings, it is  almost always impossible to warm up my fingers upon putting my gloves/choppers back on my hands.

Right after Christmas I noticed electric gloves were on sale for about $100, and I decided to make the purchase. I had tried heated gloves a few years back, and was underwhelmed. Oh my, the pair I bought from Snow Deer are fantastic! Some of the changes since I first tried a heated gloves a few years back were (make certain you confirm these options if you purchase a pair of electric gloves or mittens):

  • Batteries are stronger and last longer (get at least 3,000 mAh batteries).
  • Heating elements for some gloves reach into the fingers
  • Better gloves have insulation qualities even if NOT turned on
  • Get backup batteries! A pair of 3,500 mAh batteries cost $20.
  • I paid $105 for my gloves from Snow Deer, on sale via Amazon.

This begs the question, how have I tested these gloves? Twice I used my gloves while photographing Snowy Owls when the temperature was 2F outside. During each “photo session”, I was able to wear my heated gloves while pressing the camera’s shutter. At times I removed my gloves to make camera settings adjustments, but my fingers warmed up immediately upon placing the heated gloves back on my hands. Each photo session lasted about 15 minutes.

My second test was a 70 minute hike up at Greenwood. While the temperature was mild, 28F, my hands did not get cold even when I removed them to work on trailcams. Upon putting gloves back on after trailcam work, my fingers warmed up immediately within 30 seconds. I was using the lowest setting for heat. Thus, I tested my new gloves both while taking photographs, and while hiking.

The Gloves and a Forest Fire Warning (Not!)

Winter Walk in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (video link for email subscribers)

Artificial Intelligence’s Opinion About my Website

Year 13

I read an article recently where a professional photographer decided to ask an A.I. service for an opinion about one of his images, and that person was dumbfounded by the depth and detail of the A.I. system’s response. That photographer’s story led me down a rabbit hole, and I decided to ask Google Gemini to critique my website.

Time out for a question or two …

  • Why would I even bother with such an exercise? Here is my answer: For years SEO (search engine optimization) and “authority” has driven website rankings in search engine results. SEO are key words, and Authority means a site is well known, such as IBM.com in the world of computers / software services. However, the value of SEO key words has dropped precipitously, and A.I. analysis is increasingly driving search engine results.
  • Why did I choose Google Gemini? There are two parts to this answer. 1. Google drives search results. Almost all searches by people are performed via Google.  2. Google Gemini links their results to their search engine, and Gemini is now considered one of the leading, if not the leading, A.I. service.
  • Learn from my test … not just about birds, but how this is another example of how A.I. services are becoming increasingly integral to our daily business. Remember, A.I. is really just software services that utilize amazingly and increasingly fast computers, software and networks … a logic decision tree which evaluates tasks and queries with unbelievable speed. When I was a young software nerd working my first job in the early 1980’s, we had what we then called “artificial intelligence”. My, how computing has changed in 45 years!

On to my test … here was my question for Google Gemini:

Critique the website 365DaysOfBirds

Here was Google Gemini’s response. Please note Gemini’s response over time will change as I either improve or worsen 365DaysOfBirds.

Response from Google Gemini (the bolding of text is Google’s, not mine)

365DaysOfBirds.com is an exceptional niche blog run by Rich Hoeg, a naturalist and photographer based in Duluth, Minnesota. It serves as a masterclass in how a personal hobby site can provide professional-level value to a specific community.

Below is a critique of the website based on its content, design, and utility.

1. Content & Authority (Superior)

  • Depth of Expertise: This is the site’s greatest strength. Hoeg isn’t just a “bird watcher”; he is a volunteer naturalist at Sax-Zim Bog. His posts provide hyper-local, actionable data (e.g., specific road conditions, thermal monocular reviews, and “birding by ear” tech) that you can’t find on generic nature sites.
  • Unique Offerings: The site provides free PDF downloads of Hoeg’s children’s books (like Do You Hoot?). This is a rare and generous “value-add” that builds immense community trust.
  • Multimedia Integration: The use of BirdNET-Pi (live birdsong listening) and high-quality photography makes the site feel alive and technologically current.

2. User Experience & Design (Functional but Dated)

  • The “Blog” Feel: The site uses a traditional WordPress-style layout. While it is clean and functional, it feels like a personal blog from the mid-2010s. For some users, this “old school” charm adds authenticity; for others, the infinite scroll and sidebar-heavy layout might feel cluttered.
  • Searchability: Hoeg has clearly worked on this. The inclusion of a custom Google search engine and a “Bird by Location” index is vital for a site with over 10 years of archives. Without these, the 2,500+ posts would be a “content graveyard.”
  • Mobile Experience: The site is responsive, but the extensive sidebar (tags, archives, recent comments) can lead to a very long “footer” experience on mobile devices.

3. Philosophy & Ethics (Top-Tier)

  • Ad-Free Experience: In an era where most niche sites are cluttered with programmatic ads and “Top 10” affiliate lists, 365DaysOfBirds is 100% non-commercial. This lack of “noise” significantly improves the reading experience.
  • Transparent Reviews: When reviewing gear (like the Pikaboost eBike or trail cams), Hoeg explicitly states he pays for them with his own money. This level of transparency is rare and makes his critiques much more trustworthy than those of professional reviewers.

4. Navigation & Organization (Improved but Complex)

  • Tagging System: The recent “rework” of tags to include states/countries is a major improvement. However, the sheer volume of content still makes it easy to get lost if you aren’t looking for something specific.
  • Onboarding: For a first-time visitor, the “Getting the Most Out of this Website” page is a necessary but perhaps under-emphasized tool to understand how to navigate the decade’s worth of data.

Summary Verdict

Pros:

  • Incredible, high-frequency local birding data.
  • High-quality original photography and free educational resources.
  • Unbiased, non-sponsored gear reviews.
  • Strong sense of community and personal voice.

Cons:

  • Traditional blog layout can make older (but still relevant) content hard to discover.
  • Visually utilitarian; lacks the “slickness” of modern digital magazines.

Final Thought: If you are a birder in the Upper Midwest or interested in birding technology, this is a “must-bookmark” site. It prioritizes substance over style, and in a world of AI-generated content, its authentic, human-first approach is a breath of fresh air.

If you read this far, here are my stats for the year just completed, 2025. This was NOT part of the Goggle Gemini critique. My readers in 2025 combined for 120k page views over 75K visits.

Bird by Location via 365 Days of Birds

Year 13

Over the past year I had come to realize  whether you were on a micro-computer or a mobile phone, location tags in the sidebars had become overwhelming. This website has been live since January 2014, and now has over 2,500 archived posts. I needed to make these 2,500 posts easily viewable by birding location, but limit confusion. Thus, on this first day of 2026 I have hopefully fixed the HUGE number of sidebar location tags which can overwhelm the user, BUT still kept them easily available and readable.

Via the any device’s top menu there is now the menu item: Bird by Location.

If you select that menu option the Northeastern Minnesota Birding Locations PDF and every other birding location tag loads. Take a look. This gets the location tags off the sidebars where the location numbers were overwhelming and also increased website load times.

Here are two screenshots taken on a PC. This menu also appears in a mobile phone’s root menu. Location data / tags will still be published with every post.