The Mid Life Birder

NOTE: For those of you following the peregrine falcons' the post is directly below this one.

If anyone would have told me a year ago today that I would be spending the majority of my weekends trudging through woods, rivers and cemeteries in search for birds, I would have told them they were sadly mistaken. Sure I liked birds, just as we all do, but I was far too busy in my day to day life to pay much attention to them.

That all changed May of last year with the help of my neighbors and nature walks I started taking to get away from it all. I was really getting concerned about the environment at this time and wanted to do my part to make my small acre of land a little greener. My neighbors have this fantastic garden that I would go to in search of ideas. Not only do they have fantastic flora, but fauna as well. I saw my first hummingbird at their feeder and was in awe. Who'd have known there was a bird this tiny and magnificent. I remember watching him and feeling a little saddened to realize that there was a creature on this earth as lovely as that and I had never even seen it.


Wanting a little piece of that heaven in my own yard, I went out and bought a few feeders and there began my journey into birding. At first, everyday was a new adventure and a new bird. I will never forget the first bird to discover my suet feeder. I was ecstatic and had to share my glory with my neighbor. She asked me what the bird looked like and I explained it was black with jewel like tones, a yellow beak and a wonderful song. She paused for a moment and told me the bird was a European Starling and I had better stop putting out suet because they would just waste it. I was perplexed by this because at that time I was thrilled that a bird so exotic would want to be in my yard. Heck, this bird came all the way from Europe and here he was in my small town sampling my bird treats!! HA, now I know what she meant but at that time I was thrilled.

While I enjoyed watching the birds from my back yard, I yeared for a little more adventure and a lot more species. I joined the Audubon Society for field trips, bought some new binoculars and recently purchased a camera to properly begin my new hobby. I must admit that most of the time, I go home with the same species list and the same pictures, and while this is frustrating, I wouldn't miss it for the world. Birding to me is my anti anxiety pill, my anti depressant pill and my anti everything else pill the pharmaceutical companies have developed to lesson human pain and anguish. All I need to do is watch the splendor of a bird, even one as plain as the crow and all of that stress melts away and my mind is clear and focused.

One of the many beauties of birding is there is so much out there to see. According to 10000 Birds there are approximately 10000 birds on this planet of ours. Obviously we here in North America only make up a small portion of that 10000, but more than enough to keep us searching for the new lifer all the way into our golden years. Being fairly new to birding gives me an advantage somewhat because there are so many birds out there I have yet to see. This is why I continue to trudge through woods, rivers and brush. It is for that one opportunity to hear a bird sing its first spring song, to watch a hawk soar gracefully in the sky and to get a glimpse of the hummingbird in my own back yard. It is for that single moment for when it is just I and the bird.