Hi fellow birders. I've become interested in this topic of late and have
begun to write about it--and want to explore it further. But I need your
help. You're the subject experts!
Why do you bird? What is it about birding that seizes your interest and
claims your time? Is it the aesthetics of birding? Is it the thrill of the
chase? Is it the opportunity to be one with nature (if for only a brief
moment)? Is it the challenge/the intellectual exercise of it all/the
opportunity to learn and broaden your horizons?
Is it the confidence you feel when you can ID everything--or almost
everything--by sight, and maybe by sound? Is it the recognition you receive
as the local birding expert? Is it the numbers aspect--the lists and
counts, the surveys and censuses. And related to that, is it the
opportunity, and perhaps your ability, to gently one-up the competition?
What is it for you? I'd love to know. We're all pursuing this wonderful
hobby: the world's greatest, by our accounts. But I want to know why. And I
hope that with what I learn from you, I'll be able to provide some answers
in a feature story I'll be writing for a national birding magazine. If I do
hear back from you (and I hope I do), your answers, your story could become
part of that story.
Please respond to me privately (20 cabot [at] gmail [.com]). As I've done,
I'll respond to each reply. Even if you only feel like sending me a bullet
point list, a signature, and your best wishes, that'd be fine. Some in
other states have done just that.
Thanks so much. I appreciate your help. And I look forward to hearing from
you. Dave Gibson, Chesapeake, VA
Dave Gibson
www.elizabethriver.org/wildlife-reports
