just an idea and probably a stupid one.....but take a track of alley say 2 miles long walk your dog in early morning and look for places people might not notice.......then take another 2 mile walk down another alley look for areas people might not notice........

my advice become a weekend hiker..........you will have a back pack a dog water bottle and you look legit.....as others said binoculars and bird book can help just make sure if they give you a bird quiz you have some idea of the local birds....
good luck.....often its fun to dribble bag seed down alleys to see if it takes..........its free and who knows you might have a couple that survive the notice of people