Becoming a Better Birder: Deepening Your Connection with the World of Birds
Written by Anna Sorenson If I were to take you on my favorite walking route through the forest, I imagine the experience would feel a bit like touring a museum: “If you look to your left, we have the tree cavity where white-breasted nuthatches nested two springs ago.” Anyone strolling by the tree might’ve witnessed the pair carrying beakfuls of juicy green caterpillars inside, or, as was more often the case, passersby were met with a nasally warning. “And if you look up, you will see a particular tree branch, smooth and worn bare, where great-horned owls have perched year after year.” It must be the perfect spot to soak up the winter sunlight while keeping an eye out for food. I consider it a great honor to have developed such intimacy with this forest and its inhabitants – especially the feathered ones. I imagine that everyone has a slightly different idea of what it means to be a “good birder,” but mine revolves around this intimacy; this accumulation of m...
