I am so happy to be able to figure out a way to write about one of my passions in life into my blog. Today I am going to talk about bird watching. Yes, I am a self-confessed bird nerd. I am not sure why I started bird watching. I guess it is because I was surrounded by birds as I grew up in a national park district. I am obsessed with building my knowledge of mainly two things about birds. What their names are, and also matching bird calls with specific birds.
To get straight to the point, I am mentioning bird watching because it is a great way to improve your mental health. Yes, when you go to search for birds you often become one with nature, disconnect from devices and get off the couch, but there is more to it than that.
For me, personally, when I bird watch it helps me to engage with my senses. I listen to bird calls and figure out whether or not they are new to me. If I think it is, I go on the hunt. I look in the trees, I try to gauge exactly where the bird’s call is coming from and if I am lucky enough, I get to see the bird. It may take a few tries, and other times a few days. The main thing is when I do this, nothing else matters but finding the bird. It makes me forget any problems I have and helps me to clear my mind.
It is no wonder why bird watching has been known to help to lift people out of depression and increase bonding habits. I guess when I see my favourite birds I often feel like they are my friends and feel close to them. Research has also stated that bird watching actually also helps people recover from cancer and heart procedures. It definitely sounds like the practice has many powerful benefits.
Nowadays, bird watching tools have become more high-tech. When I was a kid, all I had was my book. Now we can search for birds on YouTube, databases of call recordings and good old Wikipedia. More knowledge arms us with more motivation to find the birds, enjoy watching them and brag to our friends, and hopefully they are interested. If they are not, we can just go out and watch them again and be content with immersing ourselves in nature time after time.
I recommend going out and watching birds. You may be surprised at what kind of beauty is out there and how it helps you.
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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9623220/#b3-ap-23-5-262
