I’d Rather Be Bird Watching And Here Are 8 Good Reasons Why

Spend more than 5 minutes with me and you’ll see that bird-watching is one of my all-time favorite things to do.

It doesn’t matter if I am casually sitting on the back porch watching a house sparrow frolicking in the birdbath or I’m purposely parked somewhere along the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge auto tour route photographing a rough-legged hawk hunting rodents, if I have some time to spend there is nothing I want to do more than go and watch birds be, well, birds.

Alright, I have to admit blogging about the birds I have seen and photographed is a close second.

I really do love my work, but nothing could take the place of actually going out and watching birds do their thing.

In other words, if it’s up to me, more than anything else on earth I’d rather be bird watching, plain and simple.

Hoping to share and instill this favorite and quite an enjoyable pastime of mine in others, here are 8 reasons why, in no particular order of importance mind you, I’d rather be bird watching than doing just about anything else this world has to offer.

1. Bird watching is relaxing

If you’ve ever been bird watching you would probably agree there is something so relaxing, so therapeutic about just sitting and watching birds that words can’t even begin to explain.

It’s something you just have to experience first-hand, I suppose, to truly understand and appreciate what bird watching has to offer in this manner.

Arguably, bird watching is very relaxing and gives us much-needed time away from the hectic fast-paced world we all live in to rejuvenate and refill our inner self with a little peace and tranquility.

Now I don’t know about you but from my personal experiences that is definitely something we all need from time to time as we deal with stress and anxiety from living and working in a world filled with, among many other things, impending deadlines, never-ending bills, and a non-stop stream of social media nonsense.

As an example of this from earlier this week, in fact, I was feeling a bit overwhelmed and stressed out with a few parts of my chaotic life so I opted to head out to the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge auto tour route for a bit to look for another blog post idea.

Shortly after I left the house, however, I saw a flock of trumpeter swans feeding in a nearby farm field, causing me to pull over and watch the majestic birds for a bit.

It was my first trumpeter swan sighting this fall and it was like an old friend had come to see me for a spell.

Each fall about this time, we get a small but measurable number of trumpeter swans that hang around the farm fields north of the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and when they show up, nothing else seems to matter for a short while as sitting and watching trumpeter swans is about as relaxing as anything I have ever done.

2. Bird-watching helps us meet new and like-minded people

One of the best parts of my job being a nature blogger is having those random, chance opportunities to cross paths with and meet some of my readers as well as other like-minded people who enjoy birding as much as I do.

Birds of a feather really do flock together and it is so enjoyable to meet and talk with other bird watchers while I am out and about looking for and photographing birds for my blog.

Yesterday, in fact, as I was headed back out to the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge auto tour route I was flagged down by someone looking for the trumpeter swans.

As it turns out it was two of my readers who learned about the swans through a recent blog post and wanted to see the birds in person.

I think we ended up chatting on the side of the road for over half an hour or more and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it, as I do each and every time I get to meet another one of my loyal readers while out in nature.

It was bird watching that crossed our paths yesterday so watching birds is a great way to meet like-minded people who enjoy and have similar interests as ourselves.

3. Bird watching helps us learn new things about the natural world around us

I love learning new things about nature, especially birds, and bird watching is a great way to help us learn and understand more about the natural world around us.

Books, videos, and even nature-related YouTube channels are great ways to get some insight and information about birds and nature but the best way to learn about something is to just go and do it.

This holds very true with bird watching as observing birds doing their thing is the absolute best way for you and me to learn about our avian friends.

A case in point is years ago, on Christmas eve to be precise, I was at the start of the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge auto tour route watching and photographing great blue herons when I learned something about these unique birds.

Great blue herons eat a lot of fish and other aquatic creatures and are commonly found during the summer months stalking the shallow wetlands of the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in search of a meal.

But during winter when all but a few very small open pockets of open water are frozen in nature’s wintery grip, great blue herons have to adapt if they are going to survive our sometimes brutal Utah winters.

By observing a lone great blue heron on the refuge on that blistery cold December day, I learned that great blue herons will stand for hours near an open pocket of water where golden-eye ducks and pied-billed grebes have congregated.

In short, the great blue heron patiently waits for one of the ducks to dive down and catch a fish.

Once the duck successfully resurfaces with a catch, the heron quickly rushes the bird in hopes the duck will drop the fish in an abrupt getaway, giving the great blue heron a quick and easy meal.

I have seen this behavior in great blue herons countless times since then and it is the number one reason I love visiting the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge during the coldest, harshest parts of winter, usually in January when the refuge is all but locked up in a sheet of ice.

So you see, by getting out and just doing some bird watching we can learn a lot about birds and bird behavior.

4. Bird watching is a great way to practice photography

Years ago when I first switched from photographing landscapes to birds, I learned something about my photography skills, namely, I wasn’t very good at bird photography.

This was very apparent one summer when I put out a hummingbird feeder in hopes of photographing some of these quirky little birds as they came to feed on my sweet sugar water offering.

Simply put, the resulting hummingbird photos were dreadful, just plain awful to say the least.

But my love for bird watching compelled me to tough it out and work on my bird photography as I sat with camera in hand and watched hummingbirds at my feeder day after day all summer long, practicing my bird photography every free moment I had while the sun was up.

And it paid off as over time my hummingbird pictures started to get better and better, and once I was satisfied with hummingbirds I then put my time into other birds as well.

If I could give anyone looking to get better at bird photography a quick and easy tip to take better bird photographs, photographing hummingbirds at a backyard feeder is the best way to practice and learn how to photograph birds, especially birds in flight which can be quite hard at times.

5. Bird watching can be great exercise

Although I personally don’t use exercise as an excuse to go bird watching, it’s a great side benefit of getting out in nature and looking for birds.

Whether taking a casual stroll on a nearby nature trail or hiking a steep canyon, bird watching is a great way to get some exercise.

The nature trails at both Farmington Bay and behind the visitors center at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge are both places I traverse in search of birds when the mood hits in such a manner.

I’ve also recently started taking my mountain bike out to places like Farmington Bay in search of birds so there are a couple of great ways to both get some exercise and do some birding at the same time.

6. Bird watching is a great reason to visit new and distant places

One of the best reasons to go bird watching, for me at least, is it’s an excuse to visit new and distant places in search of birds, especially new species of birds someone might not have seen before.

An example of this is Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge, a remote bird sanctuary located out in Utah’s western desert.

Fish Springs is a small but vital piece of wetland habitat for both resident and migratory birds that live on or pass through this most inhospitable part of the western United States.

For bird-watching hotspots, Fish Springs NWR is listed as the number one hotspot in Utah for the number of bird species observed and reported to eBird, with 292 bird species currently listed as being observed at Fish Springs at the time of this writing.

With so many different birds being observed there it is a great reason to pack up the truck and take a road trip to a new and distant place.

I’ve been to Fish Springs several times and I thoroughly enjoy each and every time I get to go, despite the 4-hour drive it takes me to get there from my house.

Bird watching is just a good reason to travel and see new areas, regardless if it’s a remote wildlife refuge in the middle of nowhere or a tree-filled park in a large urban setting.

And speaking of tree-filled parks in large urban areas, Central Park in New York City is, in fact, on my bucket list of places I want to visit and look for new and interesting birds I’ve never seen before.

7. Watching birds give me something to blog about

I might be the only person that sees this as a reason to go bird watching but a big part of my current interest in birds is to photograph and write about our avian friends to help encourage other people to garner interest in enjoying and protecting nature.

In full confession, ever since high school, I have always wanted to be an outdoor writer/photographer.

And although I have had a limited amount of success in small, regional publications and one article published in a national magazine, it was just too hard of a field to break into back then without years and years of experience, something being so young back then I just didn’t have.

But with the advent of the internet and the subsequent rise of blogging years later, the dream of sharing my passion for nature photography and birds was able to come to life.

So bird watching not only gives me topics for my blog but a platform on which I try to do what I can to increase awareness and interest in nature to help protect birds and other forms of wildlife that are quite interesting and enjoyable to watch and learn about.

8. Bird watching can help strengthen bonds with friends and family

I’ve been interested in watching birds since I was a kid, most likely starting on the very day my father took me out to Farmington Bay on my first real bird-watching trip.

I don’t remember what birds we saw on that particular afternoon but I do remember the walk down the long gravel road with my dad near what is now referred to as Goose Egg Island and how much fun it was to be outdoors enjoying nature, especially birds, for a while with my father.

Admittedly, my dad wasn’t a birder by any stretch of the imagination but rather he knew I had some interest in birds from my new-found hobby back then of raising pigeons.

And looking back at it all now, this birding trip was actually a well-intended father-son bonding moment that left a lasting impression on me and something I will never forget.

So take it from me, bird watching is a great way to start and build life-long bonds with family and friends.

In fact, bird watching is a wholesome and enjoyable activity people of all ages can enjoy and bond over.

You don’t have to be an expert birder to share a few hours with someone and get to know them better but bird watching can help if you are looking for an easy and enjoyable activity to go and do where casual conversations are easily struck with a friend or family member when birds are present.

Thumbing through a birding book while trying to identify an unknown bird is a great conversation starter if for nothing else and conversation is the most basic of building blocks for lasting friendships and relationships.

Conclusion

So there you have it, 8 great reasons to go bird watching.

I’m sure there are more good reasons I hadn’t thought about yet but you get the idea from the items I’ve included on this list.

Most of my bird watching lately is done on the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge because of this blog but even so, I still love to sit and watch the birds in my yard whenever the opportunity arises.

Bird watching is such a relaxing and enjoyable activity.

And I recommend it to anyone and every one no matter where they live as there is always a bird or two around somewhere to watch and enjoy if you have a spare moment or two.

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