How Birdwatching Will Revive Your Soul

My favorite hobby teaches us to pay attention to the world as it really is.

There are many reasons why I haven’t written as much in this space: travel, some personal medical stuff, and an unusually high number of authors who require, let’s say, a “high-touch” editorial experience. Another reason I haven’t written here much is because, for the past several weeks, I have spent a lot of evenings and weekends out at Columbus’s metro parks, looking at birds.

Lazuli bunting (a life bird I just picked up in South Dakota!)

We are nearing the end of the high holy days of birdwatching, also known as spring migration. And a lot of birdwatchers are out on the trails, hoping to spot an Eastern towhee or a green heron or, especially, a warbler.

Warblers are a tiny, energetic species that, every spring, migrate back to North America after enjoying a long, tropical vacation somewhere below the equator. Every spring, birdwatchers likewise travel hundreds of miles in hopes of spotting a rare warbler, such as the Connecticut or the Cerulean. A few weeks ago, while out with my boyf…