Nature Blog Network

This week, I’d like you to meet Amy Evenstad, the blogger of Magnificent Frigatebird and Birdorable.You may remember Birdorable from the Bloggerhead Kingbirds team logo in last week’s feature.

Amy and husband Arthur at Midwest Birding Symposium

I’ll let Amy introduce herself:

In 1999 I moved to the Netherlands to live with my future husband. Before that I had never been out of the United States. Although I dreamed of traveling, I never imagined that I would live abroad and have the opportunity to travel within Europe and further afield. During the ten years I lived overseas, I developed a passion for travel which also helped to spark an interest in nature and especially birds. I also started to blog about my experiences. I moved back to Illinois in September 2008 and have been getting involved in the local birding scene as much as I can, and recording my new U.S. adventures on my birding blog. My interest is primarily in birds and it has been growing by leaps and bounds especially in the last year. I’m currently participating in an internship at a local rehabilitation center and hope to join a local bird banding team in the spring.

Amy also can be found on

Twitter: Birdorable
Flickr: magnificentfrigatebird
YouTube: birdingvideos
Facebook: amyevenstad

Amy, why do you blog?

It’s funny, I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately, so I’m glad you asked. The blog has changed a lot since I started it in November 2005. Shortly before that, my husband and I had started our personal blog. I was writing a lot about birds, so I decided to branch off into a separate bird blog at MagnificentFrigatebird. Not long after that, we both became more interested in birding, so I found myself writing about my new birder experiences along with posting my take on bird news.

As we were birding more and more, part of our online business started taking off. We were designing t-shirts and other novelties in several different niches. Birding seemed to be a good niche to try to design for, so we started a line of birder-themed gifts which we sold via MagnificentFrigatgebird.com. My husband also started to make cute bird illustrations for Birdorable.com. Of course, these topics make their way into the blog from time to time.

The focus of the blog really changed when we moved from the Netherlands to Illinois in September 2008. We started birding here, where not only were the species new to us, but the birding experience as well. I started to follow the online birding community as well as become a part of it, while also joining local bird clubs on outings. My interest in birds continued to grow.

Now I blog to share my experiences in local birding, on catching up with natural history and bird books, and on occasional birding travel. I blog as a personal diary of my journey as a birder. As a still-new birder, I enjoy following birding blogs from others just starting out, and I hope mine has some of that appeal for my readers, too.

Besides going out on our own, my husband and I join a lot of club outings, and I enjoy writing up short summaries of the day. It’s always fun to look back, and blogs are perfect for that! I’m also taking a raptor course at a local rehabilitation facility, so that’s made its way onto the blog as well. I also still highlight new birding t-shirts each week.

Chaffinch

What’s the best thing about blogging?

Interacting with readers and other nature or bird bloggers is the best part of blogging, for me. I’ve learned so much from recording my own experiences and from the reactions I have received. I don’t think I’m unique when I say the best part of blogging is receiving meaningful comments from my readers!

I tend to procrastinate so sometimes I worry about being able to write up a post I’ve been mulling over in a timely manner. Sometimes I sit on an idea for a very long time and it starts to feel stale to me, even though it would be new to my readers. Agonizing over posts is the part I like the least, but that’s my own fault!

How has blogging changed how you think about nature? or how you write?

My rediscovered love for and interest in nature and especially birds grew just as I was starting to blog about them, so they fuel each other. Blogging didn’t trigger me to start birding (I had a different spark - that’s another story!), but I did get started with both around the same time. So for me blogging hasn’t changed how I think about nature - they just go hand in hand.

However, blogging has changed the way I photograph my experiences. I enjoy taking photos when I’m out. I try to think about how I want to share things later on the blog when I’m taking pictures.

When I was younger I aspired to be a writer, and I think I was pretty good. I stopped writing for a long time, and I think now that I’m at it again I’m not nearly as good as I used to be, nor as good as so many of the talented nature writers blogging today. That’s okay, though, because I am genuinely happy to be writing regularly again, thanks to the blog.

american robin

How do you promote your blog and attract readers?

Especially since my online birder gifts shop is linked to the blog, I do try to actively promote the website using different online channels. I have to admit I sometimes struggle with identity while using different social media websites to promote the blog, sell t-shirts from two different bird-themed shops, and actively participate in the online birding community. At first I tried to keep myself separate from the shops, but that was a mistake. Besides the fact that it felt a bit like hiding, I think it’s important to make the blog as well as the shop(s) personal.

We had a lot of success promoting Birdorable on MySpace, so I saw the value of online promotion and social media a few years ago. I use Twitter under the name Birdorable, but try to keep the promotional tweets (for both sites) balanced with general bird-related tweets. Using websites like Flickr and YouTube to share photos and videos is also great for attracting readers. I currently use Networked Blogs on Facebook to share the blog, and sometimes I use my personal account to post certain articles. We also have separate fan pages on Facebook for both MagnificentFrigatebird.com and Birdorable.

Is there a story behind the name of your blog?

When I was thinking of starting up a bird blog, I had the idea that using a bird species would be a good URL. I thought of using MagnificentFrigatebird because I was fascinated with the male bird’s red throat sac when I saw a nature program about them as a child. I always thought they were neat birds, although I do sometimes regret the very long URL! It’s easy to remember but also easy to misspell, haha!

coot chick

Do you feel you’re part of a community with other nature bloggers?

I love the nature blog community! We might all have different reasons for blogging, but in the end we all want to connect with readers and share our experience with other like-minded people. I’ve learned so much through the nature blogs I follow. I hope there are readers who feel the same way about my blog.

I’ve gotten to know some of my fellow birding bloggers online, via social media outlets, as well as through my blog. I’ve had the pleasure to meet a few fellow bloggers in person, although I haven’t yet had the chance to meet any local bloggers. I’ve made some online friends through blogging. I call them my “friends I haven’t met yet,” since the contact has only been online so far.

Any words of wisdom for new nature bloggers?

If you enjoy it, go for it! You’re not going to get rich by blogging, but your life can be enriched by the experience. Learn from your fellow bloggers, share your experiences, and enjoy the ride!