## Birding

In 2022, when many of us were still avoiding the contagious crowds, I took up birding. It was a great way to get out of the house and travel to places that didn't have that many crowds. I use Cornell's EBird to log what I'm seeing out there. I was familiar with the normal birds that visited the feeders, cardinals, robins, bluejays, house sparrows, American goldfinches, and both downy and hairy woodpeckers. I knew the wilder ones, crows, ravens, turkey vultures, eagles, red tailed hawks, and kestrels. But I didn't really pay attention to them.

Once I started looking, and counting, I realized that some of the birds I took for granted as a kid, were scarce now. Evening Grosbeaks were common in the yard when I was young, but now they're rare. Carolina Wrens didn't come this far north, but now we've got nesting pairs around the neighborhood. Paying attention to what is happening with birds forces you to pay attention to what else is happening, to weather, climate, urban sprawl. Some species do pretty good with people. The turkey population is doing great; there are flocks in most neighborhoods. Others suffer and dwindle. By recording what I see and where, I provide a snapshot of data that can be compared to previous years and future years. A measure of what we've gained and lost.

My first year started ambitious. I wanted to bird every county in Michigan. Michigan, if you aren't a native, is a really big state. I lowered my plan to bird all of the lower peninsula by the end of the year. I did it, though I still only have a blue jay for Bay County at a rest area. 68 counties, 173 species, 302 checklists. Every weekend was a road trip somewhere.

What was neat about the forced goal, was finding these small, rarely birded parks scattered throughout the state. Some birders like to only go to the big known spots, but I like the small quiet parks with no other visitors. I'd like to think that one of my lists sparked another birder to stop and check out a new place.

As for Michigan, I'm still working on getting the rest of the UP. It's a day of driving to get to the eastern UP and it'll take a week to get around the area. But I chip away counties when I get the chance.

[Chasing the Bird of the Day](/content/wp/2026/05/31/chasing-the-bird-of-the-day/index.html)  
By [aswebadmin](/content/wp/author/aswebadmin/index.html) **|** 31May, 26 **|**

This is my bird.