It’s about time you add Birdwatching to your Microadventures
In middle school, my best friend’s mom was into birdwatching and convinced us to go every Saturday morning, for what felt like 6 months (it was probably only once a month for like the summer but...). And it was exactly what you think it was when you think of birdwatchers, older gray-haired retired people with khaki pants and pocketed vests, wide-brimmed hats, binoculars around their neck, and a bird identification guide in a fanny pack. Fast forward to today and there are many younger people getting into birding, including groups of people not typically associated with birdwatching.
But birdwatching can be an amazing bite-sized adventure opportunity with little to no experience necessary and can be done anywhere and with anyone. Here are 3 really big reasons to find a birdwatching group and start this weekend.
Birdwatching can help you connect with nature - It is a great way to get outside in nature without the feeling of having a huge or scary “adventure.” Birdwatching is meant to be focused on one thing and forces you to slow down, you are not in a rush to finish the hike or make it back to your car before sunset. Birdwatching is casual, take a stroll through nature and stop regularly to look around and see what you see. Once you stop and look around you will be amazed at how much will be visible to you. And as this blog has already stated, walking in nature is the perfect bite-sized adventure, but now you are doing it looking for birds.
Use your Technology - One excuse that is commonly heard is, “I don’t know any of the birds.” This is where your smartphone comes to the rescue, the Audobon Society has an app that will guide you and help you identify the type of bird you are seeing. You can also get a hard copy of a birding book but do you really want to carry that around in the woods?
Community - There is a huge community of birders all over the world. Since social media makes it easy to connect with people it is easy to find bird watching groups in your area. I want to draw particular attention to the rising community of people of color that are into birdwatching. In 2020 a Twitter group created Black Birders Week to highlight birdwatching in the black community. https://www.audubon.org/news/black-birders-week-promotes-diversity-and-takes-racism-outdoors This group started organically on the heels of Christian Cooper, a well-known black man in the NYC birdwatching community, who was harassed in Central Park. Black Birders Week was successfully organized, on a digital platform, in summer 2020. They are hoping to build on this program for 2021 to reach even more people of all ages and backgrounds.
Birding can be therapeutic, birding can be relaxing, birding can be friendly, birding can be family fun, and birding can be for everyone. Next time you are stuck on finding a new mini-adventure, try birdwatching. But download the app first and see you out there.
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