Put Simply: Why Birds?

Good *insert appropriate time of day* everyone. How are we all doing today? Feel free to answer the question out loud to your screen as you read this. Don't worry, practically no one will think you're weird. You'll either be in lockdown alone or with your family who know you're odd anyway.

It's a question I get asked all the time... okay some of the time... actually I can't remember anyone being curious enough to genuinely ask me. In any case, I'll tell you all anyway seeing as you're all so keen to know. The question of course being 'Why birds?' We all have our own hobbies, whether it be crochet, baking or writing useless blogs. For me, I'd rather spend my weekends freezing in a hide or wandering through woodland and to many people, this may seem weird and intensely dull. Watching ducks is arguably on a par with watching paint dry. You aren't just genetically born with a fondness for flora and fauna, with every nature lover having their own anecdotes for who and what inspired them. As such, here's my summarised story for 'Why birds?'

On the most intrinsic level, humans and nature have had a mutual bond since the dawn of time, but since this isn't a history lesson, the point is that we all like animals in some way shape or form. It's why we have pets, it's why we love The Lion King and it's why some of us get questionable tattoos of dolphins. There isn't a human on the planet that doesn't have a favourite animal or had at some point been fascinated by something an animal has done. When you boil it down, the fact that I'm obsessed with birds is merely a more specified version of that. On the flip side, we all like chocolate but if you got a Cadbury's tattoo, that might be concerning.

That explains quite simply where the initial seed of inspiration derived from, but there's plenty of other personal factors that have shaped my bird-nerd mindset. To cut a long story short, sport wasn't my thing. In a household where everyone else was athletic as hell, that made me ever so slightly the odd one out. What it then meant was that (1) I had to find something else to fill my mind and (2) I had plenty of time whilst everyone else was off being sporty in which to do it. Trust me on this one, cricket pitches and golf courses can be great wildlife. If my family would travel the country for some sporty reason, there'd usually be a zoo or a nature reserve nearby, so that helped. Even when I didn't need to leave the house, growing up in Norfolk probably had a huge say in shaping the way I am. Essentially, having The Fens, The Brecks, The Broads and The Norfolk Norfolk coast within driving distance would seem like a dream come true for most birders.

So with any strenuous exercise out of the question, why not just be obsessed with any form of wildlife? Why not trees or insects? In the UK at least, the most bountiful and easy to see animals tend to fly and have feathers. We don't have any mega-fauna any more (damn you, ice age and prehistoric man) so birds happen to be the most prominent variety of animal to enjoy. To get a fix of wildlife beyond endlessly watching David Attenborough, the other solution is to go outside and find it yourself. Kestrels hunting mice aren't the same as lions stalking wildebeest but it's intriguing in it's own right. For birds specifically, they were relatively easy to learn when I was younger, easy to find and were interesting to watch. Young me didn't have much of an attention span for fungi or orchids, I needed something that at least flapped or made a noise. Don't judge little me.

But Jack, I hear you ask, they're just beaked organisms that sometimes eat bread and occasionally defecate on my window, they can't be interesting? Well, if you take the time to learn about them, there's a whole world to explore. Birds have life cycles much like ours which makes great opportunities to anthropomorphise them. The phrase 'free as a bird' is part of what makes their study so captivating, in that there's no guarantees what you will see when. As mentioned in my earlier blog (*subtle plug alert*), birding is like gambling and it's the thrill of the unexpected that draws you in. Catching a glimpse of something rare and knowing you've experienced something unique can't be underestimated. The fact that the conservation of many species hangs in the balance, it adds but another layer of interest. In this case, there is both a willingness to try and help struggling species as well as revelling in the satisfaction of seeing one bounce back from the brink.

For many, an admiration for nature and birds specifically can be an experience shared. Whilst some are more than happy to walk on their own, a day out in the wild with family or friends can be thoroughly enjoyable. There's nothing like one-upping a friend or recalling a story of an improbable birding encounter. The birding community is a friendly one and you can always rely on someone more knowledgeable being on hand to help you identify something obscure. In addition, there's always something new to learn with birds. You can revise every bird book, back to front, but new research is always coming out, giving further insights into this captivating wild world. You can never know everything about birds.

You can bundle all these contexts and factors all together but to bring it all back again, I just enjoy being out in nature. At a time when I'd usually be in a London office or be crammed on a tube train, the opportunity to visit a woodland, a meadow, a marsh or an estuary provides a green respite from an otherwise grey backdrop. Not everyone goes out in search for wildlife but we can all appreciate an escape to a green space, even if it is for that perfect selfie. No one can say that they'd rather be stuffed in the city than out in the fresh air. Which quite perfectly brings me back round to where I started - we all like nature anyway.

In summary, what may seem like a bizarre hobby to some is merely a more focused admiration for this planet that we all call home. For anyone who doesn't share the same interest, my question to you would be 'why not birds?'

Peace out.