There's a parlour trick I used to do (I don't anymore) when I'd go for a walk in the woods with people who aren't birders. For a few minutes I'd say out loud the name of each new species I heard or saw (sometimes 20 or 30). 2/
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I don't do it anymore, because it is annoying. The joy that people find joy when they make a discovery in nature on their own lasts a lifetime. But telling people what is around them has almost no impact at all. 3/
sep 1, 2025, 11:01 pm • 2 0 • view
People who visit my part of the world and go for a walk and happen to see a Superb Lyrebird singing with tail fanned over its head, or come across a flock of Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos cracking acacia branches to get the grubs inside, remember it for a lifetime. 4/
sep 1, 2025, 11:01 pm • 2 0 • view
If I tell them they've just heard a Large-billed Scrubwren, or an Olive Whistler, which are rare in the area, they'll remember that fact for 30 seconds. 5/
sep 1, 2025, 11:01 pm • 2 0 • view
When you're new to watching and listening to nature, it is hard work learning to find a Scarlet Tanager. I've put in the work, and I remember finding my first Scarlet Tanager, in Amherst, MA, with great joy! 6/
sep 1, 2025, 11:01 pm • 2 0 • view
If you let an app find you your first Scarlet Tanager, you are letting that app take that joy from you *forever*. (In exchange for some digital confetti on a screen. Yay.) 7/
sep 1, 2025, 11:01 pm • 2 0 • view
You can learn to find a Scarlet Tanager on your own. Everyone can. I have no special physical powers - my eyesight and hearing are fairly crap. But I learned to find birds and you can too. Or you can learn to find orchids, or bugs, or bats, or frogs, or dragonflies, or mushrooms... 8/
sep 1, 2025, 11:01 pm • 3 0 • view
The orchid people are amazing. Maybe one day I will learn their ways. They are lucky, there is no app that will find an orchid for you, yet. And they are smart, they keep the location of their orchids secret (usually). 9/
sep 1, 2025, 11:01 pm • 3 0 • view
Nature is vast and contains multitudes. There's stuff going on in your backyard that the app can't tell you about. What do the Song Sparrows on your block eat? How big is their territory? Is it bigger or smaller than the Song Sparrows in the park? Where do they nest? When do they sing? 10/
sep 1, 2025, 11:01 pm • 3 0 • view
Every person who spends a bit of time actually watching and listening to nature knows things that no app knows, and in fact aren't written down anywhere. And never will be, there will never be enough bytes. Anyway, rant over. 11/11
sep 1, 2025, 11:01 pm • 3 0 • view
I added a hummingbird feeder to my yard recently. Now I frequently see hummingbirds perched on my garden trellis. I don’t know what kind they are. Maybe someday I’ll learn. For now, their mere presence is delightful enough.
sep 1, 2025, 11:07 pm • 2 0 • view