No doubt this year has been brutal in unprecedented ways, but one upside for me is that I’ve spent more time outside than any year since my youth. When you spend a lot of time outside you start to pay attention to “outside” things because, well, you’re spending so much damn time outside. Birds, they’re outside. Never paid much attention to them before. Couldn’t really identify them in the past. But this year, that all changed. For some embarrassing proof, I recently had this random bird conversation with a stranger I encountered as I was roving through the woods:

Stranger: “Just beyond the trees there’s a lake with Buffleheads”

Me: “Thanks, yeah, I saw the Buffleheads there last week, along with a Hooded Merganser”

I’m not sure how the stranger knew that I would know what a Bufflehead was, maybe it was the binoculars draped around my neck, but I can’t be sure.

For further proof, I was entering a bucolic field in the hometown of the American Revolution, Concord, MA, and a woman spritely said to me, “are you here to see the Bobolinks!?” Yes, I responded, but I suspect I’m a few weeks early and that the little voyagers may still be on a flight from Argentina.

How could she be so bold to assume I was there to see those rice eating “butter birds”? Maybe she had zoom lens envy.

Anyhow, I’m a bit embarrassed, but it may be official…it could be that I’m “a birder”. If anyone in my family had any lingering doubts about this, they may have been erased with the events that transpired today.

This morning, as I was frothing the cream for my latte, and swiping through Facebook to see what my nine-hundred and eleven “friends” were doing, I noticed a comment directed at me that read, “Congratulations – great shot!”. And then another with a simple graphic:

Confused, I swiped to the top of the post to find that I had won a photography contest for this photo:

I was perplexed because I hadn’t knowingly entered a photo contest. However, I had been submitting bird photos to a like-minded photo group on Facebook, which apparently picks a winner each month. Suffice it to say that I will now be putting “Award Winning Photographer” on my resume, and I plan to sit back while the royalty checks roll in.

All kidding aside, it feels healthy to get outside, and to be actively engaged in what is going on around you, whether it be 25 degrees or 70 degrees. There is a rhythm happening out there that we are largely unaware of. The ebb and flow of nature is happening everyday even if we’re not paying attention to it. It feels like a blessing to have the time and wherewithal to focus on it.

Anyhow, in no particular order (except for the Pileated Woodpeckers first ‘cuz they are freaking epic), here are the best or most interesting photos I’ve taken of each species I’ve seen…and be forewarned, not all are award-winning!