Em oi! #449: Cranespotting

A drawing of a bald eagle.
Two birdwatchers. One is pointing at something, the other is smiling. Text: "Normal birdwatchers."
A drawing of Em looking at a great blue heron.
Em raising a hand. Text: "Me." Em says: "HI, BIRD!"

First of all, hat tip to B for the title.

It took me a while to admit to myself that I really like birdwatching. In the beginning, I just told myself that I was out for a run and looking around, and there was something funny about shouting, “Hi, bird!” as I went past. I could only really identify large birds–hawks, vultures, wild turkeys, cranes, that kind of thing. Then I started taking photos of birds to ask my mom (who genuinely is a birdwatcher) what they were. Then I started taking photos of birds I saw just to show off to my mom.

Then one day, I realized I had two birding-related apps on my phone.

Then I found myself excitedly emailing my mom that I’d seen a GREEN HERON when I took the boys over to a local pond for a walk.

So yeah.

Not long ago, I was out for a run and a guy heard me saying, “Hello, hawk!” to the hawk I stopped to photograph.

That’s all for today. If you see any birds, tell them I say hi.