Step One — Find out if I can still wear my contacts. I haven’t worn them in more than a year and haven’t worn them regularly in about three years. I was pleasantly surprised. My eyes watered for the first half hour, but after that things were fine. I wore them for four hours, used my binoculars and had no problem.
Step Two — Go birding and see if I enjoy it. I took a walk (that ended up being about 11 miles) with my binoculars and identified the following:
- American Robin
- Chipping Sparrow
- Song Sparrow
- Eastern Bluebird
- Red-tailed Hawk
- Tree Swallow
- House Finch
- American Goldfinch
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Mourning Dove
- Killdeer
- Savannah Sparrow
- Great Blue Heron
- Blue Jay
- House Sparrow
- Field Sparrow
- Canada Goose
- European Starling
- Northern Cardinal
- Horned Lark
- American Crow
I also identified Eastern Phoebe, Black-capped Chickadee, Northern Flicker and Red-bellied Woodpecker by sound but didn’t see them. Actually, official birding rules state that I can count birds identified by sound, but I still like to see them when I can. (I am thinking of relaxing a bit on this personal rule, but it’s difficult.)
None of these were the least bit out of the ordinary, although three of them — Chipping Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow and Horned Lark — are difficult to get good looks at without binoculars, so this was the first time I’d SEEN them in several years.
Step Three — Dust off the field guides and start browsing through them again.
Step Four — Read The Big Year, by Mark Obmascik. This is the book on which the movie was based, and my nephew says its better than the movie. It was a book (Adventures in Birding, by Jean Piatt) that got me started birding, so I figured perhaps a book could get me going again.
It wasn’t bad. Like the movie, it was more about the birders than it was about the birds. I’m pretty sure, if I’d read this book 33 years ago, it wouldn’t have turned me into a birder. The time and expense it takes to be a birder at this level is beyond my ability or interest.