I know. Everyone’s birding this Spring. I myself have gone bird crazy and I’ve been birding for years. And why not? We’re all inside looking out. Most of the people are gone. For many of us, that leaves rodents and birds. I don’t know about you, but I’ll take birds any day.

Spring is impervious to COVID-19, and thank God for that. It’s busting out. It’s here. And along with it comes the Spring migration. If you’re new to birding, here are a few tips.

Face your Work Chair Out, Not In

To hell with the look and feel of the room. If you want to see birds, you’ve got to position yourself so that you’re always facing out. Birds don’t appear when you’re ready. They’ll be moving through your neighborhood when they’re ready. That means you’ve got to maximize your glance time. Turn your favorite work chair towards the window.

Get a Good Pair of Birder’s Binocs

You need a wide field of view, not a narrow one. Opera glasses are totally out. So are any pair that won’t let you look around within its field. You want to be able to look a little up and down, a little from side to side without putting your binoculars down. I just picked up a good 2nd hand pair for $35. If you local camera store is doing curb-side pick up, give them a call. They probably have something affordable and will appreciate your business.

Study your Landscape

Everything is important. The more you know what should be in your field of view, the more apt you’ll be to recognize when something new has entered it.

Watch for Movement

If you want to get beyond cardinals, robins, and blue jays, you have to train yourself to watch for movement. The birds are there, but they’re often not obvious. In the last month and a half, I’ve seen 50 species of birds without leaving my home because I watch for movement, and I keep my binocs handy while I work.

Watch the Bird, Not the Bird App

Once you have a bird in sight, watch it. Do not move immediately to identification. Check out what makes it distinct. I look for bill size, wing bands, eye markings, breast markings, and tail shape, pretty much in that order, pretty much every time. If I’m lucky and it sticks around, I study its habits. THEN I move to the App and to the books. After all, the research aids will always be there, the bird won’t.

Enjoy the Bird

You can’t identify them all. When I get frustrated because the bird won’t give me a good view or because I just can’t tell if it’s a this or a that, I remind myself that the ultimate goal is to enjoy the bird. I see a lot of birds that I just can’t identify–the female warblers are good examples–you could drive yourself crazy trying to figure them out. I tell myself that some day I’ll be that good. For now, I’ll just enjoy what I see.

I hope this helps a little and happy birding.

Stay healthy, -Kate