Wednesday, November 30, 2011

The Origin Story

So, a beginning, a very good place to start. For me, this journey began as a quaint fascination a few years ago. But I want to stick to the topic, what is birding and how did I get involved. I've always noticed the birds around me but rarely took the time to think about them and beyond basic recognition. So how did I go from that to someone who's interested in looking for specific birds and going on hikes to look for birds. As with most things, there are no simple beginnings and several things came together to really peak my interest in birds.

Well, since I have no easy answers, I will tell you what I saw today. 3 bald eagles over my house. And while pursuing them, i saw the most amazing thing, the courtship behavior. For those unfamiliar with this behavior, take a moment and google it or look in Arkive.org for a good video of the behavior. Nonetheless, seeing this behavior, while sitting stuck between a busy road and a lake, i was struck with how beautiful birds and nature can be. Often, when I've gone out, I've felt conscious of the people wondering what I've been doing, but today, I felt like stopping all of them and asking them to look and see the eagles soaring and flying. Maybe next time...