Don's Jersey Birding: Have a “Big Year” Every Day
Some birders enjoy birding with groups.
All photos courtesy of Mike Malzone
by Don Torino
All photos courtesy of Mike Malzone
by Don Torino
We just came home after seeing The Big Year and I loved it. Finally there is a movie that birders can enjoy and relate to concerning our sport, hobby, lifestyle, passion, and obsession. To borrow a phrase from the mafia, “this thing of ours”. Not everyone has the time, money, or inclination to go running around the country for a full year to see as many bird species as is humanely possible, but that is what makes birding so wonderful. There are no set rules on how one can enjoy birding, only that you have a passion for the birds themselves.
I have some friends that travel all over the country and world to go birding, and I have other friends that are content with sticking to places close to home, such as the Meadowlands or Celery Farm. Other folks love birding in their own backyard. They are happy keeping their “backyard life list” and don’t yearn for those far away birding hotspots, or even see the necessity to visit a nature center that may be just down the road.
Some birders enjoy keeping a "life list", others think it is too much work.
I have met other folks who don’t even have a backyard; they live in a high-rise overlooking the Hudson River and keep their life list on just what they spot off their balcony. They find it exciting to see what new birds they get and how they differ from year to year. And then there are birders who keep no list at all, their birding adventures might be just a leisurely walk around a local pond or a vacation to Central America. Either way, they don’t see a need to keep a list of any kind (it is too much like work they tell me), but they are still just as passionate and excited about birding as anyone else. And now of course there are birders who love just going out with a camera. For a while, some old time birders didn’t consider them real birders, but times have changed. It is just another way to enjoy this thing of ours.
Many birders enjoy getting out with groups. They can enjoy time with friends, meet new people, be introduced to new birding spots, and find new bird species to add to their life list. Yet there are also birders who enjoy the solitude of being out by themselves, with no one to bother them and going at their own pace.
Seeing a red-winged blackbird for the first time is always a thrill for a first time birder.
At this point in my life, I enjoy birding most when I am able to help introduce new people to the birds. The same day I went to see The Big Year, we conducted a birding for beginners class at a local nature center. I loved being able to show people a red-winged blackbird for the first time or have them listen to the call of a Carolina wren.
My favorite way to enjoy birding is to help get new people started on birding.
I’ve watched people travel all over to see birds and I’ve also watched people thrill to the sight of a blue-headed vireo for the first time; both are valid, there is no better way or right way to enjoy birding.
In the movie, the characters are not only trying to win the Big Year competition, but are also going through their own personal life crises. Through it all there was still the birds. Isn’t that what birding is really about? Memories of birding with our friends, taking our children or grandchildren out birding for the first time, helping someone find that rare bird that becomes etched in their minds forever. Birding helps everyone who has come to love and enjoy it have a “Big Day”, or for some a “Big Year”, but much more than that it gives all people that love nature, and especially birds, a chance to have a “Big Life”.
I have some friends that travel all over the country and world to go birding, and I have other friends that are content with sticking to places close to home, such as the Meadowlands or Celery Farm. Other folks love birding in their own backyard. They are happy keeping their “backyard life list” and don’t yearn for those far away birding hotspots, or even see the necessity to visit a nature center that may be just down the road.
Some birders enjoy keeping a "life list", others think it is too much work.
I have met other folks who don’t even have a backyard; they live in a high-rise overlooking the Hudson River and keep their life list on just what they spot off their balcony. They find it exciting to see what new birds they get and how they differ from year to year. And then there are birders who keep no list at all, their birding adventures might be just a leisurely walk around a local pond or a vacation to Central America. Either way, they don’t see a need to keep a list of any kind (it is too much like work they tell me), but they are still just as passionate and excited about birding as anyone else. And now of course there are birders who love just going out with a camera. For a while, some old time birders didn’t consider them real birders, but times have changed. It is just another way to enjoy this thing of ours.
Some birders enjoy being out by themselves, they can go at their own pace and just relax.
Many birders enjoy getting out with groups. They can enjoy time with friends, meet new people, be introduced to new birding spots, and find new bird species to add to their life list. Yet there are also birders who enjoy the solitude of being out by themselves, with no one to bother them and going at their own pace.
Seeing a red-winged blackbird for the first time is always a thrill for a first time birder.
At this point in my life, I enjoy birding most when I am able to help introduce new people to the birds. The same day I went to see The Big Year, we conducted a birding for beginners class at a local nature center. I loved being able to show people a red-winged blackbird for the first time or have them listen to the call of a Carolina wren.
My favorite way to enjoy birding is to help get new people started on birding.
I’ve watched people travel all over to see birds and I’ve also watched people thrill to the sight of a blue-headed vireo for the first time; both are valid, there is no better way or right way to enjoy birding.
In the movie, the characters are not only trying to win the Big Year competition, but are also going through their own personal life crises. Through it all there was still the birds. Isn’t that what birding is really about? Memories of birding with our friends, taking our children or grandchildren out birding for the first time, helping someone find that rare bird that becomes etched in their minds forever. Birding helps everyone who has come to love and enjoy it have a “Big Day”, or for some a “Big Year”, but much more than that it gives all people that love nature, and especially birds, a chance to have a “Big Life”.
Don Torino is the Education Chairperson for Bergen County Audubon Society.
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Posted by WILDNEWJERSEY at 10/25/2011 10:00 AM 
Categories: Don's Jersey Birding
Tags: The big year birding birding in new jersey
Categories: Don's Jersey Birding
Tags: The big year birding birding in new jersey
This is great, Don: you know what birding's really about!
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Thanks Rick, that means alot to me coming from you
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I loved the movie too! Great article.
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Thanks Linda for your kind words
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