Fellow bird watching enthusiasts, I have a suggestion that will help you enjoy birds even more: Keep a bird watching journal!
For several years, I’ve been keeping a bird watching journal and I’m convinced that it’s one of my greatest ideas.
I write down the birds I see each day, a few things about their behavior, what time of day they showed up at the feeders, and a few sentences about the weather. Not only do I greatly enjoy keeping the journal and chronicling my beloved birds, I often go back to retrieve valuable information such as:
- When to expect certain varieties. It seems like I do this every year when I begin to get impatient waiting for the hummingbirds to return.
- When the males are feeling frisky!
- When to expect baby birds.
- How the weather affects bird behavior.
- When the migrating birds take off for the winter.
- Etc…
Since I also write down other experiences I have in the yard (such as the time I uncovered a small log near one bird feeding station to find a tiny, scared snake or the time a beautiful deer showed up in our yard), it’s also fun to go back and re-live moments that took my breath away.
I highly recommend that all bird enthusiasts keep a bird watching journal. It’s as simple as buying a notebook, grabbing a favorite pen, and keeping both near the window that provides what truly is the greatest show on earth.
