One of my favorite movies is The Big Year. I saw it years ago, and it’s now my go-to movie to watch while doing chores. I’ve watched it so often that I don’t need to pay close attention, as I know many lines and scenes by heart. The scenery in the film is beautiful, but it’s one of my favs because the movie got me interested in birding.
This past May, I thought it would be fun to do something similar on a much smaller scale: take a month to count the bird species I see or hear in my area. I started in my backyard and neighborhood, then traveled to some wildlife refuges in Oregon and Washington. I counted 62 species. Woohoo!
While many seasoned birders may see nearly 62 species in one day, it was a big win for me. I went out into nature daily to look for and listen to birds. Will I eventually do a Big Year? Maybe? But for now, I will certainly go to another little Big Month in the future.
