I am finally getting back into the swing of things. Birding is now second on my hobby priorities instead of just a pipe dream opportunity.

The fall migration is just about 2 weeks in, and all the migrating shore birds are headed back to all points south. The true definition of the term “snow bird.” Now I’m not going to lie about it. I would like to follow the example set by my avian friends. For the time being, though, I will look forward to the frenzy that is fall birding.

Shorebirds are some of the first to head south and like to congregate in fields with good wet/muddy areas which are known in the birding world as “fluddles.” The problem with this is that the habitat is usually not in one spot and is even 30 minutes apart in a lot of cases. Driving around by myself, while doable and not a big deal, is sometimes a bit lonely. This is where my birding friends come into play.

Because of the craziness of summer vacations, summer hobbies, and other obligations, birding in groups is usually not attainable. But now that the summer is nearly over and the hectic time known as “life” is not as daunting, birding with others is a bit easier. Sitting in a car driving from one fluddle to the next gives us time to talk about birding experiences we had during summer vacations, Catch up on each other’s families, and just laugh at the occasional “dad joke” and enjoy the company of other feather brained humans.

It also means that there are more eyes looking for a bird that others haven’t seen because while for the most part we are good at spotting birds, there are many missed because it can be overwhelming when there are a hundred or more birds in a flock to look at. Birds that aren’t easy to identify because they look another are bounced off the others in the group to get a correct ID.

At the end of the day, there were a total of 77 species seen at 4 different spots in 3 counties. There was also laughter, friendship, and the joy of seeing the birds return on their way to warmer weathered areas that we all wish that were on our personal itinerary.