Tag: birds

How to become a birder and improve your life in the process

A good friend of mine who is an excellent birder forwarded me this self help guide, How to become a birder: 10 easy ways to start this life-changing hobby.

What’s great about it is not only does it provide good instructions on how to become a birder, but how in the process of becoming one, you also improve your life.

Any hobby that allows you  you to “broaden your horizons” and be a part of “something bigger” is an excellent hobby indeed.

Become a birder, not just to see birds, but to become a better person.

Flaco the Owl! A free bird in New York….

Flaco, in case you haven’t heard, is an Eurasian eagle-owl that escaped the Central Park Zoo when vandals opened his enclosure. The zookeepers tried to lure him back to capitivity, but he wasn’t having it. They weren’t being mean: there was a good chance he could die in the wild, even if the wild currently consists of Central Park. Instead, he seems to be thriving, flying around the park and dining on the many rats available to him.

I think one of the reason we love him is that Flaco and his new freedom is a great metaphor that gives us hope. I also think we love him because he is a handsome bird! Regardless, we all want him to be independent and well. It makes me happy every day to read about him.

If by chance you don’t know about him, the Times has a story on him,  here. You can find lots of people talking about him on twitter. He even has an account dedicated to him: .