Beyond Birding…Sorta

The letters to the editor in the current issue of Birding are about—wait for it—plants and mammals. They’re also about birds, and about the ways in which our other interests intersect with our passion for birds and birding.

I remember a conversation around the campfire, more than two decades ago, about birders’ other interests. We decided, in an entirely arbitrary manner, that every birder was entitled to two such interests. Then we went around the circle, and explored all the connections and commonalities.

I nominated astronomy and deserts. I just loved—I still do—being out at night in lovely, lonely, subtle places. I feel freedom—freedom to think different, even daring, thoughts—out there among the Lesser Nighthawks and creosotebush walkingsticks, immersed in dark matter and the gravity of distant black holes.

How about you? What are your two other interests? How does it all come together for you? What are the connections among, say, painting, sociology, and birding? Or how about exercise, acoustics, and birding? Literature, beachcombing, and birding?

Your turn!