Birding fans converting members of hiking group

My hiking group is going to the birds. This is a good thing.

I have written in the past of how my birding friend and I are viewed by the rest of our group when we stop to gawk at birds during a trek. I always imagine it is with a mixture of amusement, benign interest, or an “oh – there they go again.” More recently, I’ve written about how one member has started bringing birdsong to the attention of her daycare children.

Then, the other day I received a call from the group’s former leader, Marjorie Stratton. Marjorie is now town manager of Vinalhaven Island. While I haven’t envied her that position, I have envied her living and working environment – an island offers excellent birding opportunities! However, Marjorie was never a “birder,” so I bemoaned her inability to appreciate what she had.

Recently that has started to change. A few weeks ago she had mentioned she was going on a “warbler walk” and had taken an interest in learning to identify them by sight and sound. Soon after that, she called me to describe an exciting encounter she had with an osprey.

She had told me she had noticed the birds perching in the area, but did not know what they were. Once she described their looks and their habits, I was able to tell her they were, indeed, ospreys. One morning an osprey surprised her by swooping down in front of her car, continuing to fly just above and ahead of her for quite a distance as she drove a winding tree-lined road.

Finally, the bird angled into a clearing and sailed up to its big, bulky nest to join its mate.

“It was an osprey, and I was able to identify it!” she told me excitedly.

This from a woman who had in the past nonchalantly shrugged, “well, it’s a bird,” whenever I asked what she had seen. She was particularly intrigued about the possibility of the existence of young in the nest.

“I’ve got to get binoculars,” she said determinedly. Now I knew that she was hooked, that she had gone beyond the passive interest stage.

Often, it is one memorable sighting of a particular bird that ignites interest and encourages further study and learning about birds in general. Once you learn to identify one, it becomes a stimulating challenge to be able to identify more. No matter that the bird may be common and known by others; it’s new for you, and there is nothing like the first thrill of discovery.

Chris Corio, a volunteer at Fields Pond Nature Center in Holden, can be reached at fieldspond@juno.com