Birds

I'm into birds now.

I was catching up with an old friend who asked me how I had gotten into birds. How does something like this happen to a nice gal like you? My response to her was lengthy and thorough. I thought it would make for a good blog post. 

So, it all started when I joined a birding walk with Women's Wilderness. Have I told you about WW? Hmm, let's back up a step.

So a few years ago I went to an event in Denver called Women Powering Change. I think it was somewhere around 3/8, International Women's Day. It was just one of those things where I thought it looked interesting, had no one to go with (or likely didn't try to find someone to go with), and went to this thing by myself. I felt super awkward when I stepped into the room. There were so many people and this was going to be a lot of socializing (what Dan and I would call "excessive socializing"). I almost turned right around and walked out. But I didn't want the ladies that had just checked me in to see me walk right back out. So I stayed. Going to the first table was the hardest part. After that I could simply scoot sideways and check out that table's neighbor and so on, down the line. 

One of those tables was Women's Wilderness. I took their information, likely followed them on Instagram, and moved on with my life. That is until I learned about Summit Sisters. I probably signed up for their newsletter as well. Summit Sisters is an annual camping trip hosted by WW. So, I went to this weekend camping trip, again alone, in August of that year. I went last year for the second time. So using simple math, I think I can definitively say that all this happened in 2023. As with a lot of me-things, I jumped in the deep end of WW by making Summit Sisters my first experience with them. But I loved the experience. 

From there I stayed more in tune with their events, mostly hikes. One day, they posted a Birding Banding event. I didn't know much of anything about birds. Honestly, I thought birds were kind of boring and something that old people are into. I'm not even sure I knew what a bird banding station was or what they did. But a friend invited me and I'm a "yes" kind of person. So I went. And I went in pretty clueless. During the opening circle we were asked to introduce ourselves and share our favorite bird. What?! "I don't have a favorite bird, but I'm happy to be here today to learn." I said out loud, silently adding the "weirdos" for my brain only. Welp. The joke was on me because I got hooked that day. Birds are so freaking cool! And it is a lot like Pokemon to go birding. You want to catch them all! 

Side note: At that banding station they caught and banded some birds and I learned a lot. Full circle to the present- I went to another bird banding with the same group Bird Conservancy of the Rockies this past weekend, on Sunday, and we didn't catch a single bird. And I STILL learned so much. Like did you know that birds will fly for days without stopping when they are migrating? Or that they sleep while they are flying?

So, that answers your first question of how did I get into it. That's the backstory. 

There was recently a class with the parks and rec district around here to learn to "bird by ear". I'm definitely interested in that! I can recognize some birds by ear, but it's mostly visual. I have a terrible memory and just remind myself that I will pick up things little by little and repetition, repetition, repetition. 

I use the Merlin app for identification a LOT. And I've definitely gotten to know my yard regulars and who enjoy my 5 bird feeders. 

Women's Wilderness (check out the upcoming Birds and Bunch- I'm in the photo showing off my tan legs)

Side story- WW did a trip to Mt Kilimanjaro that was covered by the local news. They used a few pictures of me and caused the rumor that I was going on the trip. I did not. But I think I'm in 3 of the stills. 

Since that initial Bird Banding trip (October 2024) I've been out on organized bird walks several times and unprogrammed outings with other Bird Nerds. We have t-shirts and fancy binoculars.