New to birding and looked up best birding forums and well here I am! Looking forward to reading various threads and learning more from everyone here Short story of how I got into birding….. My mother-in-law has many bird feeders and bird houses set up in her back yard here in Maryland. I often find myself while visiting glued to the sliding glass doors or sitting at the kitchen table staring out the window at so many different species just feeding and flying around, it’s truly relaxing! I’ve never truly had a hobby before… Sure I enjoy doing things but I have never really found that “thing” that I love. One night I stumbled upon the movie “The Big Year”. I instantly loved it and have watched it several times. Now, I know after reading reviews for the movie some do not find it accurate or whatever…. Blah blah blah, but I truly enjoyed it. It seems exciting to me to search for something so elusive with only a pair of binoculars and maybe a camera. Now I am no where near where most are but I downloaded the Audubon app, went on offerup and got a deal on a pair of binoculars for $30 and set out on my new adventure! Hopefully I can upgrade my equipment eventually and learn a ton so one day I can possibly share this with my kids! Looking forward to whatever this forum may bring!!