… the wings alive!–excite the marbled snows… A fugue of wings darts down through the still air, A dancing passage of staccato notes, Now up, now down, and glancing everywhere, Glissandos of black caps and neat white throats. Here come the chickadees! —from A Fugue of Wings, May Sarton (1961) “Why watch buurds?” ask skeptical, even dismissive, acquaintances. “I’ll tell you why,” I once said perkily, then recited a long list of reasons. Those reasons — written down, expanded, revised – were then lost, so I’m writing them again. They may have changed some, as I have over 30 years at America’s second most popular outdoor hobby – birdwatching, casually called ‘birding’. Here’s what birding can do for you. Bring you closer to a beautiful natural family. Birds are amazing: they’ve inspired and awed mankind in song and saga …
