How It Stated:
When I was about 15 or so, my mom bought a bird feeder for our backyard. On the first day we already had tons of visitors such as Cardinals ,Blue Jays and Gold Finches. From that first day she put it out I had a slight interest in watching them and identifying whatever would stop at our feeders. I would look at them then run back to my computer, look up what they were and started to memorize their names.
My Influences:
My moms friend Nancy was very excited to hear that a young person like me had taken a slight interest in birding. When I went in for my appointment at the dentist office, she had an incredible amount to tell me about all her experiences, even just watching the birds in her backyard. We talked about it for a while and it really sounded exciting to me. I didn’t have many friends at the time so doing anything would be great especially in the Spring. The next day, Nancy brought my mom a field guide of birds for me to look at and study. I was amazed at the incredible amount of different species, the looks the birds had, and all the different names. To memorize just some of the birds was a challenge for me; Now i was looking at hundreds. However, I do enjoy challenges! I studied the book every night when we sat down to watch TV and started to test my memorization skills. I was getting good.
Going Places:
A few weeks later Nancy called my house asking if I wanted to go down to Longpoint with her and a few of her friends to go birding. Being the open minded person I am and the kind of kid that loves getting out of school, I said yes! She picked me up with all her older friends early the next morning to get down there because the earlier it is the better the birding. On the car ride there, we all had our books out and they were all giving me pointers on how to identify birds. Even in the car they had their eyes peeled for anything to fly by. That was the day I got hooked on birding. We got to the Old Cut Trail at Longpoint where they net and tag birds on their migration root. I could not believe the abundance of birds I saw and learned how to ID that day. In total we identified over 40 birds in a day! Warblers and sparrows and woodpeckers; There were so many. Thank you to Nancy for taking me and getting me into this great hobby.
Ever since that day I have been hooked on birding and it keeps me coming back every year. It is an exciting and challenging hobby and it is definitely not just for old people. If you love the outdoors like I do and enjoy a good challenge, I would recommend bird watching for you. Since that day I am proud to say I have identified over 100 different species! Thanks for reading and I hope you give it a shot. 🙂
My favourite species I have seen so far is the Hooded Warbler.They’re really cool looking and hard to find. If you want a real challenge try photographing birds , I do and it took a lot of practice as you have to get close enough without spooking them and focus through thick debris sometimes. Anyway, have fun and tell me any birds you see or want to in the comments.
A funny movie I would recommend watching if you want to know what birding is all about is The Big Year, I loved that movie!
A first guide I would recommend for getting started is the Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America. I don’t leave home without it.
