Working from home is for the birds

WTF? Merlin app identifies birds by sight and sound

At least it feels that way since being introduced to Merlin Bird ID app from Cornell Labs. Especially if you live anywhere near where there are birds. And if you work from home and felt like you were alone, rest assured, my friends, you are not.

Merlin enables you to record the ambient background wherever you are and detect bird calls and the, OMG, identify the birds. It comes in a format that looks like this:

The true beauty of the app is that it provides you a list of calls a particular bird makes so you can learn the birds by sound as well as how they look.

You can also take a photo of a bird and it will provide a similar listing.

Everything can be documented--date, location, time—and Merlin will give you the heads up on other birds in the area.

The Merlin app is free to download for iPhone and Android. One caveat. If you don’t have a lot of space on your phone’s hard drive you may want to be judicious about saving recordings. Those can take up a lot of space.

In terms of the work from home experience, it really does provide a nice outlet from the day to day grind. I’ve sound myself sitting at my desk and hearing birds and just being curious as to what birds those are. I put my phone by the window and record for a little while. I’ve found it strangely relaxing. I will even go out and sit in the yard and just listen for birds.

Now, before you get the wrong idea, yours truly was known as the Blue Heron guy among my kayaking friends. That’s because the only bird I bothered to remember was the Blue Heron. Who knew there was a budding ornithophile within me?

To download the app, click on the button below. And please share with other WFH folks who may work in an area with a lot of birds.

Mushroom coffee, part deux

Heard from a few of My HOH readers that they went ahead and bought the Four Sigmatics coffee and had a similar experience—great taste, less jitters, improved focus. If you missed that edition of My HOH, here’s a link.

My Home Office Hacks on Instagram

That’s right. My HOH is now on Instagram. Please give us a follow and be sure to share your WFH photos.

Inspiring quote of the week

Okay, this one might be a tad self-serving. But I found it inspiring.

“Joe I love getting your newsletter in my inbox. Trust me when I say that I get lots and lots of newsletters but yours is the only one that save and read every single time I get it.  BRAVO !”

--Terri Teague, SmallBiz Consulting