As a new birder, I've begun collecting vintage birding guides

Birding is something I always imagined other people doing. Older people. But the fact is, birding is very popular with all age groups. Not only is it a time-honored classic pursuit, its one that has a lot to offer.
For example, it gets you out and about in nature, it’s peaceful, it concentrates your focus, improves your mind (learning something new is always good) and it can be as social or anti-social as you please.
Another plus to birding is that you can start in your backyard without much gear. Maybe just a relatively good pair of binoculars.

How I started Bird Watching

It was a Downey Woodpecker that started me on a path to Birding…
Although this isn’t a rare bird, I had never seen one in our backyard before, in fact, I didn’t know what it was, so like any 21st century person, I googled it.

Birding was sort of love at first sight. In a way.
Actually, I do recall watching a movie with Jack Black, Owen Wilson and Steve Martin called The Big Year and thinking, hey, that looks kind of fun.

It’s the thrill of the hunt…but with binoculars

In some ways, birding gives the same thrill as antique hunting, except without all the expense. There is some gear to buy and if you really get into it, you’ll probably be spending some cash. Especially if you end up doing a Big Year and travelling around the country or world to get your birds checked off (I doubt this would ever be me, but you never know, hobbies change as you get older;)

If you don’t know exactly what Birding is, it’s basically stepping outside, whether your backyard or on a mountain trail or around a lake - or basically anywhere birds live -and purposefully looking for birds.

After one season of being a birder, I am by no means an expert.
At. All.
But I certainly have enjoyed it.

A beautiful day out birding at Starved Rock

Back to nature

My interest in birding has taken me to more outdoor places in 30 days than I have been in the past 5 years.
I don’t mean that I’ve walked more miles than in the past 5 years, but I have visited natural habitats and areas in a much more concentrated way.

For instance, recenlty my husband and I drove out to Starved Rock, a kind of nature preserve forest, and spend 3 hours birding.
We went out to DuPage county to another preserve and did the same. We went to the Chicago Botanic Garden, which we do a lot, but never to bird, and this time saw so many species that we’d never noticed before.

We’ve gone around our small suburban lake that has an amazing array of wildlife and we’ve trekked around parts of our surrounding neighborhoods previously unvisited in the 18 years that I’ve lived here!

Birding is good for your health and you’ll definitely get your 10,000 steps in.

How to start?

Well, if you are interested in Birding, one of the best sites you can go on is eBird from the Cornell University Ornithology Lab.
There you can view Birders who are ranked in the order of the number of birds they’ve recorded seeing and there’s all sort of info of bird sightings in hotspot areas - most likely some near you.

If you’re the detail oriented type, and you enjoy all that apps have to offer in the way of technology, it’s for you.
If you’re not that into the tech stuff, just take a pad of paper and keep a list of the birds you encounter with the help of a book. Or you may prefer to go the ‘hybrid’ route and use both.
I have to admit the apps do make it easy to identify birds quickly.

The Merlin bird ID app

There’s also a bird ID app called Merlin, which is pretty amazing and convenient when you spy something of avian interest but you have no idea what it is.
They’ll ask a few questions, you’ll select the best answers according to the bird you see, and they’ll give you a list (with images) of the birds that most likely fit your description.

It’s fun and the way you look at birds will be different - you’ll look for identifying marks such as the band at their eyes or little ‘caps’ of color on their heads.
You don’t have to find rare specimens to enjoy it, it doesn’t hem in the challenge of identification, especially if you’re new to birding.

A Ruff bird display at the Field Natural History Museum in Chicago

Learning about something makes it more interesting

It makes going to natural history museums more fun too - you can view birds that you never would see in your area - this one is called a Ruff, for obvious reasons. I think it looks like Queen Elizabeth I, although its a male.

Oh, one other thing about Birding, it’s food friendly.

Pack a picnic, tailgate, or enjoy the natural ambience whilst sipping tea from a thermos on the forest floor, a canopy of pines overhead.
It’s fun to unpack a sandwich, some chips and perhaps a shortbread cookie, while consulting your field guide with a pair of binoculars at the ready.
Even if you’re not a serious or experienced birder, you’ll feel like one.
And fresh air has its benefits.

Visit Cornell Birding Site HERE.

Becoming a Birder