It's the 'Walk' in Bird Walk

I recently watched an old Jimmy Stewart film, “Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation,” which is a comedy about a family whose vacation does not go as expected.  In the end, though, their unexpected events are a benefit.  In one scene, Mr. Hobbs (played by Jimmy Stewart) goes on a bird walk with a friend he has not seen in a while to try and make a connection.  Mr. Hobbs leaves his comfort zone and awakens at 4:30 am to form a good impression and accommodate his friend.  This scene reminded me of my first bird walk, led by the Audubon Society of Travis County.  Audubon has regular bird walks in the Austin, TX area, and each one provides a different experience.  

For example, one of their beginner bird walks takes you through the city of Round Rock's park system and educates you on the park's 250 bird species.  The walk focuses on keys for identifying common breeding birds in the area.  The challenge for the beginner bird walker, I discovered, was getting up early, at 6 am or so, and driving some distance, usually to an unfamiliar location.  I looked at this as a type of adventure.  I was reminded of why I dropped my Ornithology course in college.  I could not see myself making it to a 6 am. class.  I later regretted this decision because I knew I had missed an opportunity to learn a tremendous amount about birds.  

I had to cancel several Audubon bird walks, which required registration, because of unforeseen circumstances, such as weather forecasts of heavy thunderstorms or extreme heat.  When I finally showed up for my first walk, it felt like the scene with Mr. Hobbs.  I felt like a fish out of water and began the walk by just 'going along with it.'  Most walkers knew quite a bit about the birds they saw through their binoculars.  One man identified a bird that appeared to be some hundred yards away without even using his binoculars.  I couldn’t figure out how he did it because I still struggled to see anything through mine.  

'A bird is a bird,' I thought to myself as I attempted to change the direction of my experience by taking a photo of an eagle sitting on a tree.  I engaged in conversation with others, and as 1/2 an hour turned to 1 hour, I realized that just walking with a group of people early in the morning and trying to connect with nature had its benefits, even if I, like Mr. Hobbs, could not identify any of the birds.

~ Niyati Acharya