Am I a Bird Guy Now?

Is this part of some kind of midlife crisis?

I was working near my living room window the other day and I saw a beautiful Cardinal land on the railing just outside of my apartment. I stopped working and just watched the curious little bird who was making little hops back and forth. After a minute or so I grabbed my phone to take a picture to send to my mom, but the bird flew off not to be seen again. I was really disappointed.

What is going on with me? Outside of a bald eagle or some kind historical extinct bird discovery, for most of my forty plus years of life I haven’t cared enough about birds to give them any time of my day let alone take pictures of them. How long is it until I start going on walks just to bird watch? Will I not long after get binoculars and one of those crazy camera lenses? How long until I buy bird books and make check lists of those I’ve seen? Am I destined to be this guy now?

I noticed my attitude on birds changing a few of years ago when little sparrows would land near my bedroom window sill and it would increasingly stop me in my tracks to watch and observe them. I liked observing their various shapes, patterns, and songs. While I’ve always noticed eagles and hawks, I also began noticing various types of birds whenever I was out and about or in nature. I visited Bernheim Forest with my mom last year and other than scoping out the giant wooden trolls, I think spotting various bird types throughout the walk was our primary activity. In particular, we found the patterns of several Blue Jays we came upon to be very striking and beautiful.

I’ve even found myself growing fonder of sports teams like the Toronto Blue Jays and St. Louis Cardinals who use these beautiful birds as their mascots. Unlike the Louisville Cardinals or Arizona Cardinals who give their bird mascots a cartoony tough edge, I love that these teams just simply let the beautiful simplicity of these birds be their image. I find something quite admirable and radical about making natural beauty a mascot rather than trying to emphasize aggression or violence - “The Chicago Bears will rip you apart!” I mean, look at this graphic of various uses of birds as sport logos - Isn’t there a classy simplicity to Toronto and St. Louis’s use that just allows the bird to speak for themselves without dressing them up in an aggressive tone?

I’ll be moving up to Minnesota soon and I did take some time to try and research the types of common bird species I might encounter up there. I don’t think I’ll be purchasing any special equipment or making any bird-specific trips any time soon, but I have to admit that being more knowledgeable and on the lookout for birds has made life just a bit more interesting. Check out this wonderful summary of common bird species in Minnesota I found. I think I am most excited to try and spot an American Goldfinch in the wild sometime.

I joked in the subtitle of this post that this may be part of some kind of midlife crisis. I mean, I also recently found myself diving back into physical media as well. Is this a troubling trend? While I meant it as a jokey subtitle it did make me pause, reflect, and look up a definition. A quick google search defined it thusly: The definition of a midlife crisis is a period of transition in life where someone struggles with their identity and self-confidence. I think I confidently say this is more about just growing as a person than some kind of struggle.

Anyways, what about you? Have you found yourself enjoying the natural beauty of birds more as you’ve grown older or does all this stuff come off as bird crazy to you? Do you think I’m a month away from having glass boxes of stuffed birds as you walk into my house? I don’t think so, but thankfully I don’t have a long history of taking hobbies a bit too far :)