"When I'm watching birds, I'm not thinking about anything else - it's a moment of peace and a way to reconnect with nature, and with myself. By taking a moment to be curious, to watch, listen and learn, you open yourself up to endless small moments of wonder."
Moving around in nature tends to correlate with lower levels of stress. You're not only moving around, but you're listening; you're noticing signs of birds, you're enhancing your cognitive flexibility.
Cetti's warblers barely existed in Britain in my childhood, with just a handful of sightings. But since the first breeding record in 1972 they've made inroads. Nowadays, if I visit a watery reserve and don't hear one, I write a strongly worded letter of complaint to the relevant authorities.
On a quiet Montreal street of low-rise brick apartment buildings on one side and cement barrier wall on the other, a crowd has gathered, binoculars around their necks and cameras at the ready. A European robin has taken up residence in the neighbourhood, which is sandwiched between two industrial areas with warehouses and railway lines and, a few blocks away, port facilities on the St Lawrence River.
On the face of it, the RSPB picking Ned Stark as the host of the new series of their podcast seems odd. But it turns out he's been a birder since childhood, who crams in birdwatching between acting gigs. He's warm and honest in his first podcast, chatting to fellow ornithology lover Elbow's Guy Garvey about spotting different species while working abroad, recognising bird song and the meditative joy of watching the feathered creatures. Alexi Duggins Widely available, episodes fortnightly
It's time for the Audubon Society's Christmas Bird Count, held each year from Dec. 14 through Jan. 5. The citizen science tradition dates back to 1900, when an early officer of the society, ornithologist Frank M. Chapman, proposed a bird census rather than a hunt over the Christmas holiday. Today, tens of thousands of participants across the Americas participate in one of the longest-running wildlife censuses, which is designed to assess bird populations.
Measuring in at just under 270,000 square miles, the state of Texas is home to sprawling cities and dazzling natural sites alike. And when it comes to experiencing both in one fell swoop, it's tough to find a better destination than Corpus Christi. While this Gulfside city comes equipped with a thriving dining scene and top-tier aquarium, it's also renowned for its high level of avian biodiversity, thanks to its location on the Central Flyway migration path, earning it the nickname "America's Birdiest City."
Garner State Park, located in Concan, Texas, about three hours southwest of the Live Music Capital of the World. It's a popular destination for tubers who like to float the Frio River, but come fall, the park dazzles as trees turn from green to golden, orange, and red. Founded in 1941, Garner State Park is one of many parks built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, a program created by President Franklin Roosevelt to combat the unemployment crisis of the Great Depression.
No, I'm not talking about an app that will translate bird sounds to human speech (although that would be neat). Rather, the app we're about to go over tells you what specific species is making any bird sound around you-kind of like Shazam, only for nature.
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