What got you hooked on birding? (1 Viewer)

I'm looking for new ways to attract young people in my area (middle & high school, college) to birding and I'm looking for some inspiration. So....what got you into birding? Why do you keep birding? Thanks for your input!!

Edit: Also, if you have any suggestions or ideas on attracting young birders, shout it out!

For me it only really started a few years back and was born out of a natural curiosity of things around me. The missus and I had taken to walking a lot in the local park (massive open area, not a bit of grass with a kiddies playground) and while we're out and about we'd hear bird noises, or see a few birds flitting about the trees, and I wanted to know what they were.

We also had feeders up in the garden because that's what a lot of Brits do. Attract some birds to the garden - doesn't matter if you can't tell them apart.

From there it was a couple of ID guides then bins (then more bins, then even more bins, then yet another pair of bins but that's another story) and learning to ID the local birds. But the books also piqued an interest in seeing other species - why do we only see Species X and not Species Y? Where can we go to see Species Y? That sort of thing.

In my opinion there is a general impression that a lot of British birds are fairly unimpressive in terms of size and colour. We have a lot of LBJs (Little Brown Jobs) rather than the hugely colourful birds other regions enjoy so I like to seek out those occasional flashes of colour the UK birds offer.

By and large it's a very peaceful hobby, which appeals. It doesn't require a great deal of fitness but does get one out in the fresh air. And one can bird pretty much anywhere, even in urban environments. You don't need specialist equipment to do it. OK, binoculars are useful but by no means essential and even a cheap pair will make a difference.

I don't know what you're relationship is to the young people you are trying to introduce to birding so it's a little hard to make decent suggestions on how to attract & keep them. If it was a school/youth group you were involved in I may suggest something like a competition to see who can spot the most birds in a set time period or the fastest person/team to spot a certain number of different birds. Maybe get them to take photos of the different species and then look online or in guides together to identify them. This can lead to discussions about different size and shapes - why are some birds big and some small? How they've adapted to environmental factors and so on. Hopefully get a basic understanding of different bird families into them. From there you may find a few that are genuinely interested in knowing more and may go on to become birders.

I really got started in Hong Kong, aged about 9. I was lucky enough to have a brilliant teacher - Tim Bleach - who enthused just about every child he taught. We went on field trips, caught (or tried to) non-venomous snakes with our bare hands and yes. watched birds. With a like-minded friend I took up the hobby and am still rather proud of my lists for 1967-8 The Hong Kong Bird Watching Society was very tolerant of us young hopefuls and really helped to steady us when it came to getting genuine IDs.

After neglecting birding throughout most of the ensuing decades I really got back into it when in the US on business - something to do with sitting in a hotel by yourself at weekends! Since then my enthusiasm has been rekindled and birding is now a significant part of our holidays and weekends. (My delightful partner isn't totally into birding per se but she loves the hiking, fresh air and is a very keen wildlife photographer).

As for enthusing youngsters - for a child what's not to like about stalking, hiding, getting covered in mud and having messy picnic lunches. Make it fun first and if they like it they'll keep at it.

mathare said:

In my opinion there is a general impression that a lot of British birds are fairly unimpressive in terms of size and colour. We have a lot of LBJs (Little Brown Jobs) rather than the hugely colourful birds other regions enjoy so I like to seek out those occasional flashes of colour the UK birds offer.

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I think that's very much true in the States as well. I certainly thought so before I learned the birds - I thought all we had were the likes of House Sparrows and Mourning Doves, I had never even heard of a warbler!

For me, I was always interested in nature and the outdoors, and I started learning to ID a few larger birds when my dad moved to Florida and I would go visit him, but it didn't really take off until I took an ornithology class my last semester as a college student. I was amazed at the beauty and variety of birds that I could find right on campus in Ohio, and the enthusiasm of the instructor and some of the other students (one of whom was an exchange student from Denmark who already had years of birding experience) was contagious. Also instrumental were the several mist-netting trips that were part of the course. I believe that banding demonstrations are a great way to spark interest in youth - I've done them myself and it's a joy to see how enthusiastic the kids are.

Short of that though, maybe a short instructional course followed by an outing, to show how many colorful birds are around and some of the interesting facts about them to spark interest. A friendly competitive outing could also really latch on for middle and high school students - send them out in teams to survey an area to see who can identify the most species.

For me it was drawing and painting as a kid. Birds became a natural subject, easily observed in the garden and out walking, and lots of reference books available. (The field jackets and binoculars were a big draw too!)

books!

How could I have forgotten BOOKS! Just had a quick look at some of my childhood bird books and field guides and they date back as far as 1965, so must have had an interest in birds for longer than I thought.

:t:All those who still have their "Observer's Guide", hands up!

It was the books that did it for me too, particularly the Ladybird books by John Leigh Pemberton. I loved the paintings and the strange sounding names. My older brother was interested in birds and it gave me another chance to annoy him ( a tradition I continue to this day ). We had a good local branch of the YOC, the kids branch of the RSPB and the fact that there were similarly aged folks to hang around with was a great way to further my interest.

It's a great way of seeing the countryside and it doesn't have to be expensive, I've bought useable bins for a fiver and fieldguides for a quid. Even if you stick to one area things are always changing so you can maintain an interest even if your patch is a city park. Factor in the other birders and their generally helpful, friendly and often humorous nature ( not always evident on this forum ) and it surprises me that everyone isn't doing it.

So I'd suggest getting a few books, a cheap pair of bins, get out to a place where there are a few birds and hope for the best. Not everyone is going to catch the bug but the ones that do will thank you for a long time afterwards.

James.

Sancho said:

:t:All those who still have their "Observer's Guide", hands up!

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But of course! :t:

string boozel said:

It was the books that did it for me too, particularly the Ladybird books by John Leigh Pemberton.

James.

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I had the whole set as a kid. From them, I developed a notion that England must be a strange and wonderful place. When I went to live there in my early twenties, I was shattered to realise that not every garden there had a Little Owl, Red-Backed Shrike, a Honey Buzzard and a Dartford Warbler (not in Camden anyway). My Mum threw all my kid books out while I was abroad, and only recently I found the Ladybird 'Garden Birds' in a thrift shop. Beautiful illustrations.

Books as a youngster for me too and also living close to the North Yorkshire moors, I used to look out of my bedroom window at the Cleveland hills and imaging all the adventures I could have up there and the birds I could see, for some reason I always wanted to see a Wheatear and now the moors are my office, fantastic, also make it fun for the kids, my grandaughter is obsessed with birds, feeding the ducks in the local park is a good starting point has they are very confiding.

Damian.

Although I have always been interested in nature, I only started bird watching in 2010, as a 50 year old. I was on holiday in Caithness, Scotland with my wife and we went to a bird hide to look at breeding Arctic Tern and Blacked-headed Gulls. I haven't looked back since. With the younger generation, I think modern electronics and social media are the answers. A digital camera, so they can record what they see and id later, a birding app, rather than a field guide at first, the guide will come later and a few choice birding websites. It seems to me that people leave school today with a lack of general knowledge, but they can find anything they need to know far more quickly than I can using smart phones, tablets etc. If the subject is broached during a discussion about biodiversity and how birds fit into the various ecosystems and their role in that ecosystem, its a good excuse to take them into the field and they can see first hand how many different species populate various ecosystems. I found that a digital camera was a very useful tool to record birds and then use the photos to look up the species in field guides and seek advice on the id section of this forum at the beginner stage. I can recognise most of the European regulars but some need a photo and a field guide later on for confirmation. May be if you could show a group of young people a film like The Big Year, it will also generate a sustainable interest.

Sancho said:

:t:All those who still have their "Observer's Guide", hands up!

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:t: The "Eye Spy" series were good as well. Although they did exactly the opposite of what my parents hoped. They were bought to stop me constantly asking "What's that?" on journeys and 60 years later ............ I'm still bloody asking it.

chris butterworth said:

They were bought to stop me constantly asking "What's that?" on journeys and 60 years later ............ I'm still bloody asking it.

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A mate of mine once suggested Woodpigeons should be renamed "What's that?"s so my mum could be right occasionally.

John

Sancho said:

:t:All those who still have their "Observer's Guide", hands up!

Click to expand...

:t:

I had a keen interest in birds when I was a young lad in the early 70s by the 80s after having the micky take out of me when at School I saw a White Stock fly past the school block only to be told by the teacher as well that you do not get White Stocks in England only for it to be reported in the evening Echo that one had land in a field near Ringwood. Any way after that and no knowing any one with the same interest I dirfted away from birds and spent more time fishing but still liked seeing the birds I did see on the river. Then 2011 I got a digi slr and by 2012 I was doning a 365p project ( were you take a picture every day) and started taking bird pctures at a local reserve and started to drfit away from fishing and found myself going bird watching and enjoying the birds once again and this year I decided to see if I could get a list of 150 birds seen in Dorset.

Birding with Bill Oddie television programmes.

Dave

It was after I stopped shooting them. I've admitted this before on this forum. I grew up in a crazy place during a crazy time. My relatives in Pennsylvania shot all the hawks at Hawk Mountain. Now it's a preserve. Boys (when I was a boy) were killers. I've done my best to start new birding guides in 3rd World countries and make a difference. Not sure how Karma will treat me in the end. College (79 - near Cape May) flushed my interest. I peaked - with the first few visits to Australia. Though I freely admit past crimes to anyone ----- I love to go birding in Jungle places with local people who hunt birds. They have great skills... We (humans) don't have 4 stomachs - and at times - at the end of the day - a pair of binos and some future clients can change things. And (the hunter) can earn a real living. I've always thought the world a complex place. Now - it's smaller and less complex.