And the worst of it was, the entire time I was slogging resentfully through these non-birding travails I’d be getting e-mails from my friends who were out there birding… and finding great birds! Stellar birds! Birds I should’ve been finding! If only I were retired, independently wealthy, or whatever these people surely must be to be out birding in such an irritatingly carefree and successful manner. Reading of their exploits I’d go apoplectic with envy, frizzy with frustration. In short: I was in a big-time birding rut.
Fortunately, I didn’t stay in Rutville all that long. I eventually recognized that my problem was not about external circumstances -- it was about my own attitude. I wanted every birding experience to be a peak experience: plenty of time in the field, perfect weather, gonzo habitat, and target species strutting about like runway models. If those ideal conditions couldn’t be met, my excuses for not birding often outweighed my motivation to go. Birding, I realized (egad!), had become more about finding 5-star birds, and less about appreciating whatever birds I happened to observe.
It was time to get back to my birding roots, to go deeper into that heart-connection with nature we all share, and which transcends life lists and any other form of comparison or categorization. Not that I was tossing out my life list or giving up chasing rarities -- oh, no no no! What I was giving up were the demands I placed on my birding. Ask not what the birds can do for you. Ask what you can do for the birds! That’s how I discovered the joys of citizen science birding.
Whether birding for you means watching backyard feeders or jetting after Asian vagrants, there are innumerable ways to contribute to scientific studies and conservation initiatives that support birds. For example, there are a wide range of opportunities sponsored by the National Audubon Society, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and other organizations. At least one of these will probably suit your personal level of birding skill, time, physical fitness, and inclination to experience biting insects or biting winter winds.
Among my personal favorite birding give-backs is the famous Christmas Bird Count, birding’s most beloved tradition and among the world’s oldest citizen science initiatives. For over 100 years, in communities from Baltimore to Bogotá, birders have stepped out on specific, early winter dates to count their resident birds. It’s a great way to make new friends, find new birding spots, sharpen your birding skills, and make an important contribution to our knowledge of bird population dynamics.
Then there’s the Great Backyard Bird Count, which takes place each February on President’s Day weekend. You get to report your own sightings online and compare your results with those of other participants. For those who enjoy the fun of interactive reporting, there’s also the hugely popular eBird) website, where your trip reports fuel a national study on avian populations.
Birders who are confident about their ID skills can take things even further, by contributing data on more narrowly focused surveys that utilize more exacting protocols. One such is the International Shorebird Survey, where participants make a number of migration surveys, just of shorebirds, in specific locations assigned to them. (My spot is the Mackworth Flats at the mouth of the Presumpscot River in Falmouth, Maine.)
Hawkwatchers also have opportunities to report their sightings and otherwise support raptor conservation through organizations like the Hawk Migration Association of North America and Hawkwatch International. Or you may prefer a species-specific study like the Golden-winged Warbler Atlas Project which is helping to determine the population status and habitat requirements of this rapidly declining, winged jewel.
I invite you to join me in the ranks of citizen-scientist-birders. You, too, may find new joy and greater meaning in your birding life by helping to collect scientifically valuable data about the winged ones we love. I hope other Eons members will be drawn to relate their own experiences. Please share with us the ways you’ve found to expand your birding horizons by giving back to the birds!
Peace and good birding,
Scott Cronenweth
www.naturalpathwalks.com
