How can I take the bird feeding hobby beyond the backyard? 

The National Bird-Feeding Society has a couple of resources that might be helpful to you as you expand the bird feeding hobby.  First, we recommend that you visit two of our webpages: 1) the Backyard Bird Guide contains information on 50 common birds that frequent the backyard including birds that may not visit bird feeders.  This section of our website also contains a backyard bird checklist which allows you to document the bird species visiting your yard, and 2) our Bird Watching page.  This page describes the basics of bird identification guides (i.e., field guides) and how to select and use binoculars.  To learn more about what birds individuals have found in your area, we suggest eBird.  eBird was developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society, and allows individuals to submit and view lists of bird sightings.  It is a great tool to learn more about what birds are found outside your backyard.